News Briefs: CMS Says It Found a Way to Cover Medicare Beneficiaries’ At-Home COVID Tests

  • Feb 03, 2022

    CMS on Feb. 3 said it is working on an initiative to enable Medicare coverage of over-the-counter (OTC) COVID tests in early spring. The administration in January issued guidance requiring group and individual health plans to reimburse members for up to eight at-home COVID tests per month without cost sharing. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and 18 other senators on Jan. 24 wrote to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure urging them to extend the same access to Medicare enrollees. And in a bipartisan letter issued Jan. 20, House representatives made a similar request. Despite several issues that complicated CMS’s efforts to cover the tests, the agency said it has “identified a pathway that will expand access to free over-the-counter testing for Medicare beneficiaries.” Read more
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  • Lauren Flynn Kelly

    Lauren has been covering health business issues since the early 2000s and specializes in in-depth reporting on Medicare Advantage, managed Medicaid and Medicare Part D. She also possesses a deep understanding of the complex world of pharmacy benefit management, having written AIS Health’s Radar on Drug Benefits from 2004 to 2005 and again from 2011 to 2016. In addition to her role as managing editor of Radar on Medicare Advantage, she oversees AIS Health’s publications and manages the health editorial staff. She graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in English.

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