Willingness to Use Health Insurance at a Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic

A Survey of Patients at 21 US Clinics

Bibliographic Data

ID11030733
AuthorsWilliam S Pearson (0000-0003-0768-8461, All of the authors are with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga.), Ryan Cramer (0000-0003-3218-6121, All of the authors are with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga.), Guoyu Tao (0000-0001-8491-3015, All of the authors are with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga.), Jami S Leichliter (0000-0002-2609-2877, All of the authors are with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga.), Thomas L Gift (0000-0001-7713-4267, All of the authors are with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga.), Karen W Hoover (0000-0003-4942-7905, All of the authors are with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga.)
Year2016
Volume106
Issue8
Pages1511-1513
Publication date2016-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2016.303263
PMID27310349
OpenAlexW2438409024
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited10

Objectives. To survey patients of publicly funded sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics across the United States about their willingness to use health insurance for their visit. Methods. In 2013, we identified STD clinics in 21 US metropolitan statistical areas with the highest rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveillance reports. Patients attending the identified STD clinics completed a total of 4364 surveys (response rate = 86.6%). Results. Nearly half of the insured patients were willing to use their health insurance. Patients covered by government insurance were more likely to be willing to use their health insurance compared with those covered by private insurance (odds ratio [OR] = 3.60; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.79, 4.65), and patients covered by their parents’ insurance were less likely to be willing to use their insurance compared with those covered by private insurance (OR = 0.72; 95% CI = 0.52, 1.00). Reasons for unwillingness to use insurance were privacy and out-of-pocket cost. Conclusions. Before full implementation of the Affordable Care Act, privacy and cost were barriers to using health insurance for STD services. Public Health Implications. Barriers to using health insurance for STD services could be reduced through addressing issues of stigma associated with STD care and considering alternative payment sources for STD services

Environmental health · Family medicine · Health care · Health insurance · Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) · Political science · Sexually transmitted disease · Syphilis · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions · Medicine · Reproductive tract infections research

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