The Biden/Harris Administration issued a mandate on January 15, 2022, under which people with private health insurance coverage or group health plans can now obtain at-home Covid-19 test kits with no upfront fees or be reimbursed.
Insurance companies and health plans must now provide eight free at-home testing per insured member every month.
What Is an At-Home Covid-19 Test?
At-home Covid-19 test kits identify particular proteins on the virus’s surface and are used to diagnose an active coronavirus infection.
If you have come into touch with someone who has Covid-19 or is experiencing symptoms, it is advised to isolate at home and wait 3-5 days before getting the test to guarantee the virus is detected.
How to Get Reimbursed for Your At-Home Covid Test Kits in Missouri
Aetna CVS Health
Their test kit FAQ page states that if you have individual, employer-sponsored, or student health commercial insurance, you are eligible to get reimbursed for at-home Covid-19 test kits.
Aetna will cover up to 8 test kits per member per month through reimbursement only. They do not currently have an option to get the test kits free with no upfront cost.
To submit a claim for reimbursement, you need to do the following:
- Purchase an FDA-approved test kit on or after January 15 at a pharmacy, retail store, or online.
- Keep your receipts
- Log into your Aetna member website and click, Submit a Claim for Reimbursement”.
- Once your claim is approved, a check will be mailed to you.
If you have an Aetna Student Health Plan, log into your school account to submit a claim.
Note: This is not available for those with Medicare, Medicare Supplement, Medicaid, supplemental accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity plans.
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Anthem has a section in the Covid-19 Resource Center titled, Individual & Family and Employer Group Plans, listing coverage information for Covid-19 Testing.
They state that the type of plan you have will determine whether you can order an at-home test from Anthem directly.
If you want to be reimbursed for over-the-counter tests, you will need to save your receipts, log into your anthem account online and submit a claim in the Claims and Payments section.
Cigna Healthcare
Their Covid-19 resource page states that they will provide free Covid-19 test kits with no upfront cost when test kits are purchased from a location in their network.
Like all other health insurance companies, according to the new Biden-Harris mandate, Cigna will provide eight at-home test kits per member per month.
If you purchase a test kit and pay upfront for it, keep the receipt and the UPC on the box and submit a claim for reimbursement. You can submit the claim through the mail or by faxing it.
Medica
Medica states on their Individual and Family Plan Covid-19 FAQ that Medica members enrolled in individual plans and commercial fully and self-funded plans have coverage for eight at-home COVID-19 antigen tests without a prescription from a qualified health professional.
To receive these free tests, you need to visit an in-network pharmacy and purchase the tests at the pharmacy counter.
If you purchase an FDA-approved test at the front of the store or a location not in-network, you will need to pay for the test and submit a reimbursement claim. You will be reimbursed up to $12 per test purchased on or after January 15, 2022.
Oscar
Oscar’s at-home Covid test reimbursement FAQ does not state that you can get free at-home testing kits through their in-network pharmacies upfront. They do, however, state that “you may be able to present your member ID and ask them to bill your insurance just like you would a medication at no cost to you.” (HIOSCAR.com)
To check which pharmacies are in their network, click here.
If you have a test you would like to get reimbursed for, visit Caremark.com, sign in, select Plan & Benefits, and request reimbursement or click here for the reimbursement form.
To be eligible for reimbursement, you must be an active member enrolled in individually purchased health care or a small group plan, bought an FDA-approved test, and have the receipt from the purchase.
WellFirst Health
WellFirst’s Over-the-counter Covid-19 test coverage resource states that the qualified members are people under individual plans and self-funded plans.
To receive free Covid-19 tests, members need to visit an in-network pharmacy, grab an FDA-approved at-home test, bring it to the pharmacy counter and show the staff your member ID. To find an in-network pharmacy, click here.
If you purchased an FDA-approved test and need to be reimbursed, you can file a reimbursement form through Navitus, with each test being reimbursed up to $12.
WellFirst does not currently have a method to ship at-home tests directly to eligible members, but they are actively working on making this possible.
Additional Important Information
The government launched a website on January 19, 2022, where you can sign up to receive four free at-home test kits per household and receive them through the USPS.
For a full list of FDA-approved at-home testing, kits click here.
You can also get free at-home tests from community health centers and Medicare-certified health clinics.
Resources:
Hyperlinks used in the article:
- https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2022/01/10/biden-harris-administration-requires-insurance-companies-group-health-plans-to-cover-cost-at-home-covid-19-tests-increasing-access-free-tests.html
- https://www.aetna.com/individuals-families/member-rights-resources/covid19/otc-in-home-test-faqs.html
- https://member.aetna.com/MbrLanding/RoutingServlet?createSession=true&custNumSel=A&serviceName=home&ae_ptparam_cmpId=int_aetnaco
- https://www.aetnastudenthealth.com/en/main/your-member-website.html/?cid=site_m_323
- https://www.anthem.com/coronavirus/individual-and-family/
- https://www.anthem.com/login/
- https://www.cigna.com/coronavirus/
- https://www.cigna.com/static/www-cigna-com/docs/coronavirus/covid-otc-med-claim-form.pdf
- https://www.medica.com/shop/individual-and-family/individual-and-family-faq/individual-and-family-covid-faqs
- https://www.medica.com/-/media/Documents/Pharmacy/Shared/Prescription-Reimbursement-Claim-Form-Express-Scripts.pdf
- https://www.hioscar.com/blog/at-home-covid-test-reimbursement
- https://www.hioscar.com/at-home-covid-test-reimbursement
- https://www.hioscar.com/member/search/results/facilities?specialty_id=3336C0003X&search_query=Retail%20Pharmacy
- http://caremark.com/
- https://assets.ctfassets.net/plyq12u1bv8a/534MPK4tSOUJBuevzhQYED/5e6cce2ef072186b934a910ba836dfff/OTC_COVID_Test_Paper_Claim_Form.pdf
- https://wellfirstbenefits.com/Individuals-and-Families/Wellness/Preventive-care/Coronavirus-COVID-19/Over-the-counter-COVID-19-tests
- https://dhplimited.pharmacylocator.navitus.com/en-US/Home.aspx
- https://www.navitus.com/members/filing-a-claim
- https://www.covidtests.gov/
- https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-emergency-use-authorizations-medical-devices/in-vitro-diagnostics-euas
- https://www.hrsa.gov/coronavirus/testing-supplies
