The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), together with the Departments of Labor and the Treasury, issued guidance today to ensure Americans with private health insurance that their COVID-19 testing will be free. The Trump administration introduced the guidance to "remove financial barriers for Americans to receive necessary COVID-19 tests" and encourage antibody testing.
“It is critical that Americans have peace of mind knowing that cost won’t be a barrier to testing during this national public health emergency,” said CMS administrator Seema Verma. “Today’s action under the leadership of President Trump allows millions of Americans to access the vital health services they need to fight COVID-19, including antibody testing - once it becomes widely available.”
The decree ensures that most coronavirus-related medical services will be provided at no cost, such as care visits, emergency room visits, and in-person or telehealth visits to the doctor’s office that may result in having to test for COVID-19. Covered COVID-19 tests themselves will include all FDA-authorized COVID-19 diagnostic tests. It also ensures that antibody-testing will be covered once broadly available.
Currently, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the US has eclipsed 530,000 with more than 20,000 fatalities, according to data provided by the Johns Hopkins University Resource Centre.