Feds Call For HIV Tests For All

A federal panel of experts has recommended that all Americans ages 15-64 should be tested for HIV. If their proposal is adopted, insurance companies and Medicare will be required to cover the tests.

The draft guidelines were written by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent group that operates under the auspices of the Department of Health and Human Services to advise the government and the nation's physicians on the medical evidence for preventive health measures.

Posted online Monday on the task force website for a four-week period of public comment, the guidelines also recommend that doctors offer HIV tests to people under 15 or over 64 if they are at high risk for contracting HIV and — in advice that has not changed — to all pregnant women.

The recommendations, which would apply to all but very-low-risk populations, are a clear shift toward broader testing for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The task force's 2005 guidelines suggested routine HIV screening only for adolescents and adults at increased risk, including men who have sex with men, injection drug users, people who trade sex for drugs and those who have multiple sexual partners.

(Tipped by JMG reader Nicholas)