National Panel Will Explore Requiring Free Covid Tests

July 31, 2023

(STAT News) – The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force will discuss recommending Covid-19 screening, the first step in requiring insurers to permanently cover the tests at no cost to patients. The national panel of experts will convene and “determine whether and how Covid-19 screening might be considered within the Task Force’s scope,” chair Michael Barry wrote in a letter to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) exclusively shared with STAT. Under the Affordable Care Act, insurers are required to cover tests, screening, and other preventive medicines like HIV PrEP drugs that the task force strongly recommends. (Read More)