Biden Administration launches free delivery test
COVID-19 vaccinations are currently free for those ages 5 and older and COVID-19 testing is low cost and in most cases free. The current Presidential Administration hopes to make testing even easier.
“Ensuring that everyone ages 5 years and older in the United States can receive a COVID-19 vaccine helps us get closer to the goal of achieving population immunity. Population immunity makes it harder for COVID-19 to spread from person to person, and it even helps protect people who cannot receive a vaccine, like newborns,” said the CDC.
With new strains of COVID-19 popping up, the Biden Administration is releasing a new program where citizens can have free tests delivered directly to their residence.
“There will be free tests available for every household, and to promote broad access, the initial program will allow four free tests to be requested per residential address. Starting Jan. 19, Americans will be able to order their tests online at COVIDTests.gov, and tests will typically ship within 7-12 days of ordering,” President Joe Biden said.
The program’s initial launch is Jan. 19. The tests will be delivered through the U.S. Postal Service with the goal of reaching the hardest hit and most high risk populations.
“The United States Postal Service is proud to fulfill its mission of service to the nation by delivering Covid test kits as part of this important public health initiative of the Biden Administration,” said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, in an interview with NPR. “The 650,000 women and men of the United States Postal Service are ready to deliver and proud to play a critical role in supporting the health needs of the American public. We have been working closely with the Administration and are well prepared to accept and deliver test kits on the first day the program launches.”
“There will be free tests available for every household, and to promote broad access, the initial program will allow four free tests to be requested per residential address. Starting Jan. 19, Americans will be able to order their tests online at COVIDTests.gov, and tests will typically ship within 7-12 days of ordering,” President Joe Biden said.
On top of the testing delivery, COVID-19 testing from home is now required to be covered by private insurance companies.
“Insurance companies and health plans are required to cover eight free, at-home tests per covered individual per month. That means a family of four, all on the same plan, would be able to get 32 of these tests covered by their health plan per month,” said the Biden Administration. “As part of the requirement, the Administration is strongly incentivizing plans and insurers to allow people to get these tests directly through preferred pharmacies or retailers with no out-of-pocket costs, with the plan or insurer covering the cost upfront, eliminating the need for people to submit reimbursement claims.”
Moving forward, Biden plans on supplying schools nationwide with more tests as well as increasing testing sites and the overall U.S. supply of tests.
The Administration so far has worked to cover provider-ordered testing for free, insured Medicaid programs covered all COVID-19 testing and has invested nearly $5 billion to cover testing costs for uninsured individuals according to whitehouse.gov.
“In addition to expanding the number of free testing sites to over 20,000 nationwide, the Administration delivers 2.5 million tests to long-term care facilities each week, and also launched a program to distribute 50 million free at-home tests to thousands of locations, including community health centers and rural health clinics that serve our hardest-hit and highest-risk communities.” The Biden Administration said.