BasicDXSTITest
Sexual Health
Basic Dx
$
58
Basic DX at-home STI Test Kit
Cost: $58-199
Everyone having sex outside a monogamous, long-term relationship needs to get tested for STIs on a regular basis. Whether you have two or 200 partners, knowing your status is critical for your health and your partners!
Where & How to Test
There are several options for STI tests. Knowing what yours are and what tests are available is important to making a decision on which method to use.
Your Primary Care Doctor
If you have a primary care doctor you see (a privilege here in the US) and trust (a high bar for most of us) you can ask for them to order STI tests through the lab you are assigned by your healthcare plan. You also have to know what your insurance will cover. This is a lot of information to source to get STI tests.
Heads up! If you are 50+, many plans (including Medicare) only cover a once in a lifetime test for HIV unless you are actively showing symptoms or know you have been exposed. Same goes for Hepatitis C. I guest they figure us older folks aren’t out shagging away. This, by the way, is patently false. Most of us of 50 are regularly getting laid. Without insurance coverage, you can be billed for the blood test. I was charged $150 for an HIV test and had to challenge that to get the charge reversed. Ugh.
Also, most PCPs order tests for the most common STIs (chlamydia, gonorrhea, and HIV). If you want to test for hepatitis A, B, and C, trichomoniasis, chlamydia and gonorrhea of the throat or anus, or herpes I and II you have to request (and often justify) why you want those tests. This can be a lot for some of us to do or afford.
Clinics and Planned Parenthood
There are a lot of clinics offering free STI testing. These tests generally include HIV, chlamydia, andgonorrhea. Many clinics do not require you to give a real name. And most will provide treatments for you and your partners for low or no cost. This is a great service and you should avail yourself of them as needed.
At-Home Tests
There are a number of companies now offering at-home STI tests. You might wonder, if you can get a free test at a clinic, why you would pay for an at-home test. The biggest reason is that it is easy. Kits are shipped to you, you complete them and ship them to a lab. The lab then sends you the results. No swabbing blood draws or peeing in cups in a lab somewhere. They are done on your time frame and in your private bathroom.
Second, you don’t have to justify why you want these tests to a doctor. I’m a proud ho and have no issue asking my PCP to run a bunch of tests. I also deal with my insurance company enough to know what codes she needs to list on the “reasons” section to get most of the tests covered with just a small co-pay. But… it is a lot of work on my partn and things are not always covered (looking at you Medicare….).
I recently got to try Basic DX at home STI kit. They offer four versions for at-home STI screening: three, six, eight, and 13 infection screening. The 13 screening test is PASS certified, which means those of us in the adult performing industry can get certified results for our work.
This kit screens for:
Chlamydia
Gonorrhea
HIV 1 & 2 4th Gen Ab/Ag
HIV 1 & 2 (PCR)
Syphilis
Hepatitis B and C
Mycoplasma (MGen)
Trichomoniasis.
The instructions are really easy to follow. You swab three areas (throat, genitals, anus), draw some blood with a finger stick and back it all up in a small, discrete box. I sent it off and three days later had a full, certified report.
For someone who wants to keep on top of my health, not fight with my insurance company, and not have to deal with my local lab, this was fantastic!
Testing kits are shipped in plain white boxes, and you ship back in a plain box. The shipping is fast (mine took 3 days to get to me and 2 to get to the lab and logged into the system). The service offers a consultation with a doctor if you have any positive results. The doctor can send over a prescription for medication to a pharmacy of your choice. It is super simple and easy.
Bottom line, this is a great option for most of us who want more complete testing, some level of privacy, and don’t want to fight with a doctor or insurance company over our right to monitor our own health.