Medicare to Cover OTC COVID-19 Tests Beginning Early Spring

As the pandemic continues to linger on, the Biden-Harris Administration is continuing its efforts to expand access for Americans to free COVID-19 testing. Beginning in early Spring 2022, Medicare plans will cover the costs of over-the-counter COVID-19 tests.

CMS Overcomes Accessibility Challenges

Throughout the course of the pandemic, access to testing has been a challenge to overcome given the increased demand and accessibility of testing supplies. In addition, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has faced increased complexities and difficulties to cover the costs of over-the-counter tests. Medicare has continually strived to find a solution to provide no costs testing to those with Medicare and are on the cusp of providing this added benefit.

Medicare Coverage Plans

Americans who are enrolled in Medicare or Medicare Advantage will have access to the over-the-counter tests at no cost. Beneficiaries will be able to access up to eight tests per month for free at participating pharmacies and other participating entities.

Additionally, all Medicare Part B beneficiaries will be eligible for this newly offered benefit, even if they are not enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan.

Additional COVID-19 Testing Resources

As the CMS is continuing to push and get this benefit available to Medicare participants as soon as possible, there are a variety of additional ways for Medicare patients to access COVID tests.

• Four free tests delivered to your home through https://www.covidtests.gov/
• Free testing from more than 20,000 testing sites across the nation.
• If a test is ordered by a physician, non-physician practitioner, pharmacist, or other authorized healthcare professional and conducted at a laboratory, PCR and antigen tests will be at no cost for Medicare participants.
• Given the public health emergency, people with Medicare can also access lab-performed tests without an order and without cost sharing.

With the importance of providing accessible testing to all Americans, the new initiative will allow Medicare to provide payments to pharmacies and other participating entities directly so that beneficiaries can pick up tests at no cost to them. This is a huge stride for the CMS to be able to provide expanded COVID-19 testing resources to all Americans in order to combat the pandemic.