Bennet, Stabenow, Colleagues Urge Biden Administration to Require Medicare to Cover Costs for Rapid COVID-19 Tests

Press Release

Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) joined several of their U.S. Senate colleagues to urge the Biden Administration to include Medicare in its guidance that requires insurance companies to pay for rapid Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) tests. Currently, most private insurance companies are required to cover the cost of up to eight over-the-counter at-home COVID-19 tests per person, per month, but the 61 million Americans enrolled in original Medicare or private Medicare Advantage plans do not get this reimbursement.

The lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Chiquita Brooks-LaSure urging them to expand Medicare coverage of free at-home rapid COVID-19 testing.

"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," wrote Bennet, Stabenow, and the lawmakers. "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."

In addition to Bennet and Stabenow, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

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