> The test can't be that* expensive, especially in the context of public health.* The tests are free in almost any other context. Planned Parenthood and tons o

> The test can't be that* expensive, especially in the context of public health.* The tests are free in almost any other context. Planned Parenthood and tons of other NGOs offer them no questions asked and Obamacare made their coverage by insurance mandatory. Many (most?) states even subsidize the tests for the obvious public health benefits. Emergency rooms are just a special case where the economic incentives are even more completely out of wack than in the rest of healthcare. It could have been something as trivial as understaffing - the full STD panel might have required two vials of blood and a genital swab so they went with the simpler test as labor triage.