California Leads the Way: Health Insurance Coverage for At-Home STI Tests
Extra, extra📰. In sexual health news, California became the first state to require that health insurance plans cover at-home STI tests.
The genesis of this legislation? Increasing rates of STI transmission, even before COVID. Once the pandemic came to light, health departments became increasingly overwhelmed, and some tests even became unavailable due to material shortages.
This is a great step in making STI screening more accessible to those who may not otherwise be able to access or afford it, but it is certainly not a substitute for comprehensive, stigma reducing sex ed.