WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden unveiled his winter strategy for combating the Omicron and Delta coronavirus strains on Thursday, which includes free and insurer-funded at-home COVID-19 testing as well as additional international travel regulations.
According to administration officials, the US government will mandate commercial health insurers to reimburse its 150 million clients for the cost of over-the-counter, at-home COVID-19 tests, and will make 50 million tests available free to the uninsured through rural clinics and health centers.
However, test reimbursement would not begin until January, missing the key holiday season when many families and groups congregate indoors.
“We’re going to battle this variation with science and speed, not confusion,” Biden said at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, predicting an increase in illnesses this winter.
“The actions I’m outlining are ones that all Americans can support and that should bring us together in the battle against COVID-19,” he stated.
To combat the virus and defend against Omicron, which is spreading rapidly around the world, the administration is pushing all eligible Americans to get vaccinated or get booster vaccinations. It intends to increase the number of family immunization centres and make vaccines more widely available in pharmacies.
The United States has one of the lowest vaccination rates among developed nations, with less than 60% of the population, or 196 million people, fully vaccinated. According to the administration, another 100 million people are eligible for boosters. In view of declining protection over time and the advent of Omicron, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all adults who have been vaccinated get a booster shot.
In addition, regardless of vaccination status, inbound overseas travelers will be required to be tested for COVID-19 within one day of departure in the United States. The deadline for wearing a mask on aircraft, trains, and public transportation vehicles has been extended until March 18.
The new plan will also improve care for those who contract COVID-19, according to Biden, by raising the number of “surge response teams” that supply extra staff at overburdened hospitals to 60 from the present level.
More treatments “recommended by genuine doctors, not conspiracy theorists,” he continued, will be expedited.
The push to extend testing and vaccinations comes as the world grapples with new threats posed by the Omicron variety, and the US grapples with a deeply entrenched, politically motivated anti-vaccination culture.
Fears of the variation have roiled financial markets, casting uncertainty on the speed with which the global economy would recover as the pandemic continues.
According to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, the White House is exploring more limitations as well as strategies to increase testing and immunizations, depending on the severity of the variation.
INSURERS WANT TO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE PAYING FOR.
When the Biden administration issues guidelines on the subject by mid-January, Psaki told reporters that the administration would clarify whether private health insurance firms would get government money to reimburse clients for over-the-counter tests.
However, later on, Thursday, a White House official stated that the government will not reimburse private health insurers for the cost of at-home tests. During the public health emergency, insurers were compelled to provide diagnostic testing for COVID-19 “without any cost-sharing obligations,” according to the official.
Psaki stated that further free tests at healthcare facilities should be available as early as this month.
Those without private insurance will be able to pick up free testing at hundreds of handy places, according to Biden.
“The basic line,” he added, “is that this winter, you’ll be able to test for free in the comfort of your own home and have some peace of mind.”
Cigna Corp, UnitedHealth Group, and CVS Health Corp are the three largest employer-based health insurance in the United States. Currently, the government reimburses insurers a predetermined sum for most medically required expenses. COVID-19 testing are done at labs and doctors’ offices.
Insurance industry organization AHIP’s Kristine Grow said the industry is working with the administration to ensure that the implications of any testing plan is well understood. Price gouging on these tests, higher premiums, and clear guidelines and instructions for implementation are all areas of worry, she said.
If at-home tests are regarded as acceptable, Morningstar analyst Julie Utterback sees the government’s plan as a movement in the potential site of testing rather than a big increase in expenses for health insurers.
“I understand the rationale in attempting to keep sick people at home rather than pushing them to engage with others outside their family when they are experiencing symptoms to restrict the transmission of the virus from a policy standpoint,” Utterback said.
The method might come at a significant cost to health insurers, according to Evercore ISI analyst Michael Newshel, with the coverage obligation perhaps stretching through the first part of the year.
COVID-19 has killed about 786,000 people in the United States, including 37,000 in November alone.
