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Some Insurers Refuse To Cover Precautionary COVID Tests Right Away

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Although COVID-19 testing is becoming more readily available, some health care insurers aren’t quick to cover the cost of precautionary testing.

United Healthcare and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas City, Mississippi and South Carolina will cover costs for testing if ordered by a health care provider or physician, Axios reported Wednesday. Typically the patients must show symptoms for the testing to be deemed medically necessary.

President Donald Trump mobilized a plan for coronavirus testing, and state-level testing became more available after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the disease a “global health emergency.”

Aetna, the CVS-owned health care provider, covered costs for “all diagnostic testing” for “any approved testing facility,” Axios continued, citing Aetna’s website. Since CVS owns Aetna, the conditions vary in “select states,” Aetna noted.

The CVS-owned provider tweeted March 6 that the policy was “effective immediately.”

As a @CVSHealth company, we want to ensure the health of our members. Effective immediately, Aetna members will have access to the following:
1. Waive co-pays for all diagnostic testing related to COVID-19
2. For the next 90 days, we will offer zero co-pay telemedicine visits

— Aetna (@Aetna) March 6, 2020

For health care insurance companies, a COVID-19 test is estimated to cost $50, Axios stated.

There are 1,956,421 active cases in the United States as of Wednesday, up 17,598 from Tuesday, with 110,925 total deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.