From $0 To Over $100: Uninsured Now Hit By Steep Costs For Lab Covid Tests – Kaiser Health News

With the federal reimbursement fund dried up and additional covid aid approval from Congress uncertain, tens of millions of Americans without health insurance now face charges to test for and treat covid that were previously covered — and that health experts worry they will skip due to costs.

ABC News:
Free COVID-19 Tests Ending For Uninsured Americans

Americans who don’t have health insurance will now start to see some of the free COVID-19 testing options disappear, even if they are showing symptoms. Quest Diagnostics, one of the largest testing companies in the country, told ABC News that patients who are not on Medicare, Medicaid or a private health plan will now be charged $125 dollars ($119 and a $6 physician fee) when using one of its QuestDirect PCR tests either by ordering a kit online or visiting one of the 1,500 Quest or major retail locations that administer the tests, such as Walmart or Giant Eagle. More than 30 million Americans had no insurance during the first half of 2021, according to CDC estimates. (Breslin, 3/26)

The New York Times:
Concerns Rise As A U.S. Reimbursement Fund For Testing And Treating The Uninsured For The Virus Stops Taking Claims

As the White House pleads with Republicans in Congress for emergency aid to fight the coronavirus, the federal government said that a fund established to reimburse doctors for care for uninsured Covid patients was no longer accepting claims for testing and treatment “due to lack of sufficient funds.” Some U.S. health care providers are informing uninsured people they can no longer be tested for the virus free of charge, and will have to pay for the service. (Barry, 3/28)

The Boston Globe:
Cuts To COVID-19 Testing, Treatment, And Vaccination Worry Health Care Leaders

Dr. Adam Gaffney is worried. Massachusetts is shutting most of its free COVID-19 testing sites in the coming days and the federal government will no longer pay for COVID care and vaccinations for the uninsured. While the winter’s blizzard of Omicron cases may be a fading memory for those who have peeled off their masks and moved on with their lives, the risk of COVID infection and serious complications for others remains all too real. There are still hundreds of new infections reported every day in Massachusetts, with those with chronic health problems, a weakened immune system, or not fully vaccinated or boosted most vulnerable to serious illness. (Lazar, 3/26)

In other news about covid treatments —

Stat:
FDA Limits Covid Therapy As Ineffective Against Omicron BA.2 Variant

U.S. health officials on Friday stopped the further deployment of the Covid-19 treatment sotrovimab to places where the BA.2 coronavirus variant is now causing the majority of infections, given laboratory studies showing the treatment likely doesn’t work against the variant. States in New England, as well as New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, will no longer receive shipments of the monoclonal antibody therapy made by Vir Biotechnology and GSK, officials said. (Joseph, 3/25)

The New York Times:
New Antiviral Pills Help Treat Covid. Here’s How To Get Them

Earlier this month, President Biden announced an initiative called “test to treat,” which would allow people to visit hundreds of qualified pharmacy-based clinics, community health centers and long-term care facilities across the country to get tested for the coronavirus and, if positive, receive antiviral medication on the spot. Here are some of the most common questions about the new antiviral pills, and how the new program works. (Sheikh, 3/25)

This is part of the KHN Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.