Managed Care Cast

On January 1, 2022, California law SB-306 went into effect with the aim of reducing soaring sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates in the state. As part of SB- 306, California now requires health insurance to cover at-home STI testing kits and requires syphilis screening during both the first and third trimester of pregnancy, in addition to other mitigation strategies. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, US STI rates were reaching crisis levels, with CDC data showing an increase of nearly 20% of chlamydia cases between 2015 and 2019, an increase of more than 50% of gonorrhea cases within this time window, and an over 70% increase in cases of syphilis. All 3 of these conditions are curable, if detected early enough and treated correctly. To learn more about SB-306, we spoke with Amy Moy, the chief external affairs officer at Essential Access Health, one of the bill’s co-sponsors. On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Amy outlines what SB-306 does, how it addresses some of the stigma associated with STI