This is high risk sexual behavior?

[2bpurrfect]

Originally Posted by beera

BTW your medical records don't travel with you unless you send them from doctor to doctor.

not so sure about that any more, what with the new Health Exchanges with the ACA / obamacare. they centralize our records now and i think they are very easy access, no doubt there will be some court challenges regarding confidentiality soon.

[2bpurrfect]

Originally Posted by Yuptag

Not true. HIV testing without consent is illegal in most if not all states. Law gives consent in certain situations, but they are very narrows inapplicable to your situation.

Maybe she was talking about blood donations, where all donated blood is tested for HIV.

no, this is a new thing, and it may be in some states but not others, i'm not sure. but yes now the standard is to test for HIV and maybe other things when drawing blood for routine checkups /testing. i read this recently, must have been a news service.

[suzy_q2010]

Originally Posted by 2bpurrfect

no, this is a new thing, and it may be in some states but not others, i'm not sure. but yes now the standard is to test for HIV and maybe other things when drawing blood for routine checkups /testing. i read this recently, must have been a news service.

The CDC recommends that testing for HIV be a part of routine medical care:

Revised Recommendations for HIV Testing of Adults, Adolescents, and Pregnant Women in Health-Care Settings

However,

"Screening should be voluntary and undertaken only with the patient's knowledge and understanding that HIV testing is planned."

The format suggested is one in which the test would be done unless the patient "opts out".

In regards to payment, insurance companies can decide whether to provide coverage or not.

Medicare indications are liberal and include people with obvious high risk factors and everyone who specifically asks to be tested:

National Coverage Determination (NCD) for Screening for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection (210.7)

One commercial carrier includes HIV testing in its list of possible age appropriate tests:

http://www.meuhp.com/media/3920/bpm_...ecareflyer.pdf

The issue of confidentiality of computerized records is very real. Ideally, there should be no stigma attached to being tested for HIV. A positive result is something for which most people would prefer to control access tightly, however.

[stepka]

And then as if this weren't enough to depress me thoroughly, my blood sugar is on the rise. I'm trying really hard to keep the faith and think positive but it's gotten really hard lately. Thank goodness my job keeps me completely busy.

[55degrees]

Your doctor marking high risk sexual behavior is not a comment on you. It is a way of describing having sex with someone who is not monogamous with you (even though it was not intentional on your part). It could be for insurance purposes as well (so you pay less for it). It is also a note in case unusual symptoms come up later that make him need to consider checking for STDs.

[stepka]

Cancer test was positive. Bummer. The family doc didn't even call to tell me--it fell to the doc who did the biopsy.

[HappyHarley]

Originally Posted by stepka

Cancer test was positive. Bummer. The family doc didn't even call to tell me--it fell to the doc who did the biopsy.

sorry to hear it stepka. I can't even imagine something like that, I hope this is something that can be resolved all the way and stuff, and that it makes you an even stronger, better person than you already are.