A new government report finds that one in five safety-net health
centers — federally funded clinics that serve low-income
Americans — aren’t routinely testing patients for HIV, even
though the Centers for Disease Control began encouraging regular
HIV tests back in 2005. As the global community has continued to
make strides to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic over the past
several years, health experts have gradually expanded their
guidelines on HIV testing, pointing out that the best defense
against the spread of the virus is educating all Americans about
their HIV status. The U.S. Preventative Task Force, a
government-backed panel that determines what preventative health
care will be covered under Obamacare, updated their
recommendations last year to make HIV testing as routine as
regular blood pressure screenings in annual check-ups.
Nevertheless, the health centers that provide care for the
country’s poorest residents don’t have enough funding to make
sure they can screen everyone for the virus: The health cen