News -- April 7, 2022: The Biden-Harris Administration announced the initiative to help Americans protect themselves
and their families from COVID-19. Starting today, Medicare Part B and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries now have access

to eight FDA-approved at-home tests per calendar month for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. These new tests can be obtained at participating pharmacies or from other health care providers and will be covered by Medicare.

“With today’s announcement, we are expanding access to free over-the-counter COVID-19 testing for people with Medicare Part B, including those enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan. People with Medicare Part B will now have access to up to eight FDA-approved, authorized or cleared over-the-counter COVID-19 tests per month at no cost. This is all part of our overall strategy to ramp -up access to easy-to-use, at-home tests free of charge,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Since we took office, we have more than tripled the number of sites where people can get COVID-19 tests for free, and we’re also delivering close to 250 million at-home, rapid tests to send for free to Americans who need them. Under the Biden-Harris Administration’s leadership, we required state Medicaid programs, insurers and group health plans to make tests free for millions of Americans. With today’s step, we are further expanding health insurance coverage of free over-the-counter tests to Medicare beneficiaries, including our nation’s elderly and people with disabilities.”

"Testing remains a critical tool in mitigating the spread of COVID-19, and we are committed to making sure people with Medicare have the tools they need to stay safe and healthy,” said Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. “By launching this initiative, the Biden-Harris Administration continues to demonstrate that we are doing everything possible to make over-the-counter COVID-19 testing free and accessible for millions more Americans.”

“For the first time in its history, Medicare is paying for an over-the-counter test,” said Deputy Administrator Dr. Meena Seshamani, Director of the Center for Medicare at CMS. “This is because COVID-19 testing is a critical part of our pandemic response. Combined with the free over-the-counter tests available through covidtests.gov, this initiative will significantly increase testing access for Americans most vulnerable to COVID-19 and will provide valuable information for future payment policy supporting accessible, comprehensive, person-centered health care.”

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Information:

This new initiative allows participants to receive up to eight tests per month at no cost, in addition to the two sets of four free at-home COVID-19 tests Americans can continue to order from covidtests.gov.

This initiative adds to existing options for people with Medicare to access COVID-19 testing, including:

Requesting free over-the-counter tests for home delivery at covidtests.gov. Every home in the U.S. is eligible to order two sets of four at-home COVID-19 tests.
Access to no-cost COVID-19 tests through health care providers at over 20,000 testing sites nationwide. A list of community-based testing sites can be found here.
Access to lab-based PCR tests and antigen tests performed by a laboratory when the test is ordered by a physician, non-physician practitioner, pharmacist, or other authorized health care professional at no cost through Medicare.
In addition to accessing a COVID-19 laboratory test ordered by a health care professional, people with Medicare can also access one lab-performed test without an order and cost-sharing during the public health emergency.
For more information, please see this fact sheet https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/medicare-covers-over-counter-covid-19-tests

People with Medicare can get additional information by contacting 1-800-MEDICARE and going to: https://www.medicare.gov/medicare-coronavirus. Medicare also maintains several resources to help ensure beneficiaries receive the correct benefits while also avoiding the potential for fraud or scams. More details—particularly on identifying scams due to COVID-19—can be found at https://www.medicare.gov/basics/reporting-medicare-fraud-and-abuse.

Pharmacies and other health care providers interested in participating in this initiative can get more information here: https://www.cms.gov/COVIDOTCtestsProvider


Wnctimes by Marjorie Farrington