Washington, D.C
Hernan Quintas | Contributed
This week, Congressman Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-36) called on the Department of Health and Human Services to guarantee at-home COVID-19 test kits to Medicare beneficiaries at no cost. Ruiz joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers in urging Secretary Xavier Becerra to include Medicare coverage for the tests following a directive from the Biden Administration that requires insurance companies and group health plans to cover over-the-counter COVID-19 diagnostic tests.
“In order to protect people with Medicare from the ongoing COVID-19 variants, we urge the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries have sustained access to at-home COVID-19 testing at no cost through the Medicare program,” Dr. Ruiz and the lawmakers wrote. “We encourage the Department to consider options such as additional clinics in rural, suburban, and other underserved areas with less accessible existing testing options, a telephone hotline to order free at-home tests to complement the website the administration created, and support for locally led efforts to provide at-home testing to Medicare beneficiaries at no cost.”
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