Press Releases
ICYMI: Axios Report Renews Watchdog Call for Price-Gouging Protections
Axios Vitals: Congress passed legislation earlier this year requiring insurers to cover all coronavirus tests — including diagnostic and antibody — without cost sharing, and without “prior authorization or other medical management requirements.”
So why are health insurance companies still shouldering testing costs onto patients?
Washington, D.C. — Today, Patients over Pharma reiterated its call for Secretary Alex Azar to issue clear guidance protecting patients from predatory cost-sharing when receiving a coronavirus test. Many health insurance companies are still refusing to pay the full cost, as required by the Families First Act and Cares Act, for asymptomatic patients – even as we know that asymptomatic people can spread the virus and that adequately testing asymptomatic people is crucial to flattening the curve.
“Secretary Azar’s silence speaks volumes,” said Eli Zupnick, spokesperson for Patients over Pharma. “As everyday Americans are doing their part to stop the spread of the virus, Secretary Azar is tacitly allowing health insurance companies to exploit those seeking to protect themselves, their families, and their communities, for a profit.”
READ MORE:
1 big thing: The murky rules around coronavirus testing coverage
The Coronavirus Transparency Provisions Congress Needs to Pass by Accountable.US President Kyle Herrig
