Medicare Could Soon Cover STD Screenings For Seniors

More and more senior citizens are having sex which increases their chances of catching a sexually transmitted disease, according to health officials.

The National Health Insurance plan pays for HIV tests, and now Medicare may broaden its coverage.

About 10,000 Americans turn 65 every day, and in less than 20 years, one in five Americans will be 65 or older.

Seniors are having more sex, and doctors say, compared to younger generations, they are less likely to use protection.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is considering an initiative to cover screening costs of these STDs with an emphasis on seniors and American’s with disabilities: syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia and hepatitis b.

“I think it will definitely save lives,” said Dr. Joy Hamilton, director of clinical services for the Desert AIDS Project.

“It only takes one error to get a sexually transmitted disease,” said Taylor Cushmore, 72, who has been married for 43 years and lives in Palm Springs. “Just one time is bad if you get a disease.”

Between 1996 and 2008, STD rates increased almost 50 percent for men over the age of 40, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

April is also STD awareness month, and Hamilton says seniors should be more cautious.

“The elderly are more sexually active now with the use of erectile dysfunction medications (and) the elderly were not focused in a lot of the STD prevention education,” said Hamilton. “They’re from a generation where condoms weren’t talked about as much as they are talked about now to our younger generation.”

Still, some in the Coachella Valley don’t feel comfortable about taxpayers potentially footing the bill for STD screenings.

“If we had the money, it’d be great,” said Guenther Kraus, who has been married for 44 years and lives in Mission Viejo. “We’re all in the hole.”

“If they’re gonna be promiscuous, then they could pay for their own testing,” said Elizabeth Kraus. “The government doesn’t need to take on anything else.”

The CMS is conducting a national coverage analysis on STD screenings for sexually active patients under Medicare.

A decision on whether or not to expand coverage is expected this August.