`Move this movement to the moment’

Marsha Martin, executive director for Get Screened Oakland, believed those at the summit needed to know of the laws recently passed in California. She ticked off three:

• AB682: Changes testing from opt-in (patient had to give approval up-front) to opt-out (provider would give the test unless the patient objected) and removed the requirement of written informed consent before an HIV test;
• AB1894: Requires any insurer to cover the costs of HIV testing in medical and health care settings;
• AB 2899: Streamlines in testing centers the process of counseling and testing for repeat testers.

Martin said it was important to know the California developments – as well as those in other states – because advocates and HIV experts should be on the same page as they focus on next steps.

``We are moving this along,’’ she said. ``We have to take the HIV movement and move it to this moment. … We will not be able to scale up routine HIV screening without strong advocacy at this moment.’’