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Letter Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense - Urging TRICARE to cover COVID-19 Tests for Active-Duty Personnel and Military Families

Letter

Date: Feb. 17, 2022
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Military Personnel Health and Health Care

Dear Secretary Austin:
Thank you for your longstanding commitment to supporting the men and women who have served our nation in uniform. As you continue working to ensure these individuals have access to the healthcare they have rightfully earned, we urge you to require TRICARE to cover the cost of up to eight over-the-counter at-home COVID-19 tests per month.

The coronavirus pandemic has deeply impacted the nation, and it is critical we continue working together to mitigate its continued spread. In order to increase access to at-home COVID-19 tests, the Biden-Harris administration has directed private insurers to cover the cost of eight over-the-counter COVID-19 tests per person per month. To further broaden access to testing across the nation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has recently announced it will require the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to allow Medicare recipients to receive up to eight tests per month at no cost.

These orders have been crucial steps in reducing the spread of COVID-19 and have significantly expanded access for Americans. However, millions of TRICARE beneficiaries have been left out of these policies, with no other option but to pay out-of-pocket for at-home tests.

Under current regulations, TRICARE does not cover the cost of at-home COVID-19 tests. TRICARE will only provide coverage of tests that are ordered by a TRICARE-authorized provider for a medically necessary purpose. All other reasons - such as personal concern, returning to work, or travel - are not currently covered.

We urge you to bring TRICARE policy into parity with the latest administration orders. To protect individuals from the ongoing COVID-19 variants, we urge you require TRICARE to provide full coverage of over-the-counter COVID-19 rapid tests to TRICARE beneficiaries at no cost.

We share your commitment to ensuring TRICARE beneficiaries have access to the highest
quality care, including access to free at-home rapid COVID-19 testing. Thank you for your
efforts, and we look forward to working with you to address this issue.


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