Posted on April 20, 2015
Source: Meredith Zoltick
Deciding where to go to get tested for HIV, hepatitis C, and other STIs is a really difficult decision. Do you go to a place near your home for convenience or a place far away for anonymity? If you don’t already have health insurance, do you need to get it through the Affordable Care Act first when you are already experiencing symptoms or are nervous about a potential exposure? Do you pay out of pocket? Have you had a bad experience with a provider or a specific place and are worried about being judged? These are just some of the many questions and barriers to accessing sexual health services.
The Baltimore City Health Department’s free STD clinics offer one solution to these questions. The clinics are free; there are no appointments. You just show up in the morning, and you don’t need to have health insurance or provide an ID. There are long lines of people seeking these services every morning – the clinic seems to be filling a real Baltimore need. As an HIV and hepatitis C tester at the STD clinics through Generation Tomorrow, I have seen the relief that people express after learning their status, getting treatment, being linked to care.
Although this system fills a gap in health care, what will it look like in a post-Affordable Care Act world? Everyone will have health insurance, and free clinics will provide confidential but not anonymous services. In closing, I am grateful to have the opportunity to work alongside medical providers who believe in this model of care as part of Generation Tomorrow.
