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In early December, President Biden announced that his administration would require health plans to reimburse individuals for the cost of at-home COVID-19 diagnostic tests. Currently, health plans are required to cover with no cost sharing medically appropriate diagnostic testing performed at medical offices, hospitals, pharmacies, and clinics through the end of the public health emergency.
The announcement stated that health plans would also need to cover these at-home tests during the public health emergency, but lacked further details. The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury will issue further guidance on this issue by January 15, 2022. It is anticipated that this guidance will contain further information on what types of at-home tests will be covered and under what circumstances. Health plans should be prepared to comply with these new requirements as soon as possible, as COVID-related coverage requirements in the past have often required quick implementation.
For uninsured individuals, the administration intends to distribute at-home tests through community sites, like health centers and rural clinics.