The COVID test is required to be administered by private medical insurance companies and the reimbursement process can be a bit stifling. CVS is providing Covid19 tests online without incurring an out-of-pocket cost to customers.
In other testing news, some health experts say the free tests being mailed from the federal government might be affected by the freezing weather hitting many parts of the nation.
Medicare will pay pharmacies and other entities directly to allow enrollees to pick up the free tests. Pharmacies committed to distributing the free tests include Albertsons, Costco, CVS, Food Lion, Giant Food, The Giant Company, Hannaford, H-E-B Pharmacy, Hy-Vee, Kroger Family, Rite Aid, Shop & Stop, Walgreens, and Walmart.
This new digital service for at-home COVID-19 tests is the latest innovation to help consumers have easy, cost-effective access to critical testing supplies when and where they need them.
Enrollees may get their free over-the-counter COVID-19 tests from any participating pharmacy or health care provider, whether or not they're customers of the pharmacy or patients of the provider. They do not need to change drug stores where they obtain their prescriptions. Medicare says the program will continue until the COVID-19 public health emergency ends.
You can find CVS pharmacy locations all across the nation, and they work with vendors and workers and increase the inventory.
Unlike at hospitals, at-home tests can be thrown in the normal trash, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the Miami Herald in January. Medicare Advantage plans can already cover over-the-counter COVID-19 tests as a supplemental benefit.
If CVS is not a participating pharmacy in a customer's plan, they will be given the option to pay out-of-pocket and follow their plan's claim submission process. Federal guidance that was implemented on January 15 requires private health insurers to pay for up to eight at-home COVID tests per person per month.
People with Medicare Advantage, a private insurance option that covers about 4 in 10 Medicare enrollees, will also have access to free COVID-19 tests through their plans, officials said.
Procedures vary by location and patients may be directed to stay in their vehicles and proceed to a designated testing structure located in the parking lot or, in limited locations, to enter a CVS store through a doorway specifically allocated for this purpose.
