Letter to Hon. Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health and Human Services and Hon Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services - Gillibrand, Colleagues Urge Biden Administration To Require Medicare To Pay For Rapid Covid Tests

Letter

Dear Secretary Becerra and Administrator Brooks-LaSure:

Thank you for all your work to increase access to free COVID-19 tests around the country, including your recent guidance requiring most insurance companies to cover the cost of up to eight over-the-counter at-home tests per person per month. We strongly encourage you to extend coverage to Medicare, ensuring access for the 61 million Americans enrolled in the program.

Along with vaccination, the widespread availability of free tests will help us defeat this pandemic. That is why we strongly support the Administration's work over the past year to increase the testing supply and lower costs. A year ago, there were no at-home rapid tests on the market. Today, there are hundreds of millions being distributed around the US, including the Administration's purchase of 500 million tests with funding included in the American Rescue Plan, and the planned purchase of 500 million more.

Required coverage of testing ordered by a physician, expansion of free testing sites through pharmacies and community health centers, and free at-home rapid tests available through COVIDTests.gov or 1-800-232-0233 are big steps forward, including for seniors. Recent CMS guidance requiring coverage of eight over-the-counter at-home tests per person per month will significantly expand access to millions of Americans with commercial health insurance. However, those enrolled in original Medicare and private Medicare Advantage plans do not have this same access. Seniors and people with disabilities enrolled in Medicare are at the highest risk of severe illness from COVID-19, and people over 65 account for nearly three-quarters of all deaths from the virus. The current policy leaves them on the hook for potentially significant out-of-pocket costs.

We share your commitment to making sure Medicare enrollees receive the highest quality health care, including access to free at-home rapid COVID-19 testing, and look forward to working with you to address this issue.

Sincerely,