Representative Alcee Hastings (D–Fla.), along with 25 of his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives, introduced the Increasing Access to Voluntary Screening for HIV/AIDS and STIs Act of 2011, according to a statement by Rep. Hastings. The bill would require Medicaid, Medicare and private insurers, including federal employee health plans, to cover voluntary routine testing for HIV, hepatitis B and C, and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in an effort to reduce infection rates. The AIDS Institute urged the bill’s passage. In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued recommendations calling for routine HIV testing in all health care settings for people ages 13 to 64, but the recommendations weren’t fully implemented due in part to a lack of funding.

To read the Hastings statement, click here.