Biden Administration Explores Ways to Cover Covid-19 Tests for Medicare Enrollees - WSJ

The policy requiring free coverage of tests for people on private insurance falls under 2020 Covid-19 legislation that requires group health plans to provide Covid-19 testing with no cost sharing, administration officials say. But Medicare coverage is largely determined by statute. For Medicare to cover a specific item or service, it has to fall into an approved benefit category, such as preventive services.

If only this President and Congress had an opportunity to pass a blow-out bill whose intended purpose was to address COVID and testing. That would be the perfect vehicle for making this necessary legislative change to provide more testing options to vulnerable seniors.

Oh, wait.

I guess they were going to stick this useful provision in the American Rescue Plan™️, but were too busy on essential governance like regulating cryptocurrencies, 1099 reporting for Etsy stores, and allocating dollars to schools that won’t be spent until 2028.