Pascrell and Peters urge Medicare to cover Covid testing

Members urge the same testing assistance for Medicare beneficiaries as those with private insurance and Medicaid

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representatives Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) and Scott Peters (D-CA-52) are calling on the Biden administration to fully reimburse Medicare beneficiaries who purchase COVID-19 from home trials. Recently, the Biden administration demanded that commercial insurers cover the cost of in-home covid testing.

“We are writing to you today to urge you to take immediate action to ensure that those covered by Medicare have the same ready and free access to COVID-19 diagnostic tests. Recipients should have continued access to home COVID-19 testing and their providers should be involved in ordering tests and informed of test results,” Pascrell and Peters write to President Biden.

Broad access to diagnostic testing for COVID-19 is an essential part of a comprehensive strategy to effectively identify and mitigate the spread of this virus, especially as new variants continue to emerge. Without comparable benefits available under the Medicare program, nearly 20% of the population would be forced to pay out of pocket for COVID-19 testing.

The full text of Pascrell and Peters letter to President Biden is below.

January 14, 2022

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear President Biden:

We commend the Administration for pursuing a comprehensive strategy to make COVID-19 testing more widely available, including making home testing available to more Americans toll-free. The Administration’s guidelines to require commercial insurers to cover the cost of at-home testing and also make it freely available through various distribution methods are a step in the right direction, but providing limited free testing may not be sufficient for Medicare beneficiaries. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) should also provide full Medicare reimbursement for home testing.

We are writing to you today to urge you to take immediate action to ensure that people covered by Medicare have the same ready and free access to COVID-19 diagnostic tests. Beneficiaries should have continued access to home COVID-19 testing and their providers should be involved in ordering tests and informed of test results.

Broad access to diagnostic testing for COVID-19 is an essential part of a comprehensive strategy to effectively identify and mitigate the spread of this virus, especially as new variants continue to emerge. Without comparable benefits available under the Medicare program, nearly 20% of the population would be forced to pay out of pocket for COVID-19 testing, and therefore should not expect to test themselves with the same desired frequency. Needless to say, Americans enrolled in Medicare are among the most susceptible and vulnerable to infection, and among the least able to pay for testing.

Improved access to home diagnostic testing can help us better identify and isolate cases of COVID-19 and therefore reduce the spread and adverse effects of COVID-19. We urge you to close the gap that currently exists with our public safety net programs, and we stand ready to work with you to ensure that all Medicare beneficiaries have equal access to these vital diagnostic tools.

Truly,

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