What BRIDGE Survey Data Reveal About HIV Testing Access, Stigma, and the Path to Prevention

Produced by the HRC Foundation

For National HIV Testing Day, the HRC Foundation’s BRIDGE Survey shares new insights into how LGBTQ+ and other people experience HIV testing. The results show that cost, stigma, privacy worries, and a lack of affirming care affect whether people can get the testing and prevention services they need.

Introduction

HIV testing helps protect our health, our communities, and our future. Getting tested gives people clear answers. It can connect them to PrEP, treatment, support, and care. Testing also helps people make informed choices about their bodies, relationships, and lives.

But testing only works if people can actually access it.

This National HIV Testing Day, new findings from the HRC Foundation’s BRIDGE Survey show that many people understand the importance of HIV testing, but still face real barriers. Cost, stigma, privacy concerns, provider judgment, transportation, clinic hours, and insurance rules can all prevent people from getting the information they need.

6%

of respondents say they currently need HIV testing but cannot get it

8.9%

say it has become harder to access HIV testing in the past year

11.7%

delayed or avoided HIV testing because of fear of discrimination, stigma, judgment, privacy concerns, or being outed

These findings make it clear that awareness alone is not enough. To help more people know their status, we need systems that make HIV testing affordable, welcoming, private, and easy to access.

About the BRIDGE Survey

The Barriers, Resources, and Inequities in Delivery of HIV Care and Engagement (BRIDGE) Survey is a national survey designed to help the HRC Foundation understand what keeps people from accessing HIV prevention, care, and treatment. It examines issues such as stigma, discrimination, policy and funding barriers, insurance, provider availability, and unmet service needs. This analysis on HIV testing focuses on people who are not currently living with HIV and who indicated that HIV prevention, care, or treatment was relevant to them based on their survey responses. 

Testing Access Is Not One-Size-Fits-All

 

 

 

HIV testing takes place in many settings, and no single testing model works for everyone. Among BRIDGE respondents, doctor's offices and clinics were the most common location for a recent HIV test, while at-home self-tests, HIV/STI clinics, community organizations, and LGBTQ+ centers also served as important access points.

At the same time, nearly 14% of respondents had not been tested in the past year. Expanding HIV testing requires more than encouraging people to know their status; it means making testing available through multiple trusted, accessible options, including primary care, sexual health clinics, LGBTQ+ centers, community groups, pharmacies, mobile programs, and at-home testing.

Some People Wanted an HIV Test and Still Did Not Get One

One clear finding from the BRIDGE Survey is that some people wanted an HIV test but could not get one. In total, 11% of respondents said there was a time in the past year when they wanted an HIV test but did not get it.

This is not because people lack awareness. It is because their needs are not being met.

When someone wants an HIV test but cannot get one, the issue is not motivation. The problem is the system: whether a test is affordable, whether a clinic is nearby, whether a provider feels safe, whether insurance will cover the visit, whether results can stay private, and whether care is free from judgment.

This finding is especially important on National HIV Testing Day. Public health messages often urge people to know their status, but BRIDGE respondents remind us that encouragement must come with real access.

The Biggest Barriers Are Fear of Judgment, Cost, Privacy, and Navigation

 

For people who wanted an HIV test but did not get one, the main barriers were provider judgment and out-of-pocket costs. Other common issues were not knowing where to go, privacy concerns, lack of transportation, insurance problems, and clinic hours that did not fit their schedules.

These barriers show that access to HIV testing is about more than just having tests available. A clinic might exist, but still feel out of reach if someone expects judgment from a provider. A test might be offered, but still be too expensive or confusing. Someone may want to know their status, but still hesitate if they worry about being outed through insurance, billing, or medical records.

The main barriers show a bigger truth: HIV testing needs to be more than just available in clinics. It should be affordable, private, welcoming, and easy to use.

Stigma and Privacy Are Access Issues

Stigma does not just affect how people feel about HIV testing. It also affects whether they get tested at all.

BRIDGE data show that 12% of respondents delayed or avoided HIV testing in the past 12 months because of discrimination, stigma, judgment, privacy concerns, or fear of being outed. 

This data shows that stigma, privacy, and access are closely connected. For LGBTQ+ people, especially those who face racism, transphobia, HIV stigma, or anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, deciding to get tested can mean more than just making an appointment. It can mean wondering whether a provider will be respectful, whether the visit will remain private, whether insurance paperwork could reveal sensitive information, or whether local care will feel safe.

No one should have to risk judgment, being outed, or discrimination just to get an HIV test.

People Know What Would Help

BRIDGE respondents were clear about what would help improve access to HIV prevention, care, and treatment. The top solutions they named align closely with the barriers they reported: lower out-of-pocket costs, more LGBTQ+affirming providers, stronger funding for HIV clinics and community health centers, fewer insurance barriers, and expanded health coverage.

Taken together, these findings point to a practical path forward. Improving access to HIV testing and prevention means reducing the financial and administrative burdens that keep services out of reach, while also investing in trusted providers and community-based care. For many people, access depends not only on whether a test or service exists but also on whether it is affordable, confidential, easy to navigate, and delivered in a setting where they feel respected.

People know what they need. They are asking for HIV services that are affordable, welcoming, close to home, and free from unnecessary red tape. They also want systems that make prevention, testing, and care easier to start and maintain.

What This Means for National HIV Testing Day

National HIV Testing Day is a chance to encourage people to know their status, but the BRIDGE data show that knowing your status depends on more than personal action. It depends on whether HIV testing is affordable, private, welcoming, and available when and where people need it.

HIV testing gives people information, choices, and control. It can open the door to prevention, treatment, support, and peace of mind. But for too many people, that door is still blocked by cost, stigma, privacy concerns, provider knowledge gaps, geography, clinic hours, transportation, and insurance barriers. These are not personal failures. They are system failures that can be fixed.

Making HIV testing truly accessible means expanding free and low-cost testing, supporting at-home and community-based options, funding HIV clinics and community health centers, training providers in LGBTQ+-affirming and HIV-competent care, protecting privacy, and reducing insurance barriers for PrEP and HIV services.

On National HIV Testing Day, the message is not only that everyone deserves to know their status. It is that everyone deserves a safe, affordable, private, and affirming way to get tested. Testing is power, and systems must make that power available to everyone.

Methodology

The BRIDGE Survey was fielded from April 6 to June 1, 2026, to better understand experiences with HIV prevention, care, and treatment. Responses were collected through the HRC Foundation’s Community Insights Panel and partner organization outreach, yielding 5,000 responses and a final analytical sample of 4,689 respondents after quality assurance and data cleaning. Reported percentages are weighted using benchmark distributions from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey for age, race and ethnicity, educational attainment, Census region, and sexual identity. Full methodology is available here.
 

The Human Rights Campaign reports on news, events and resources of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation that are of interest to the general public and further our common mission to support the LGBTQ+ community.
Topics:
HIV & Health Equity
Sexual Health
Research

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