Coronavirus tests will be covered by health insurers, and patients won't get 'surprise' bills, Pence says
The largest health insurers say they won't charge co-pays for the coronavirus test
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By Leslie Albrecht
Getty Images/Mark Wilson
Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday that health insurers have agreed to waive co-pays on coronavirus testing, and promised not to send patients 'surprise bills.'(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
People who get tested for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, don't have to worry about getting a surprise medical bill, Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday.
"We want people to get tested," Pence said at a White House meeting with President Donald Trump and leaders from private health-insurance companies. Health-insurance company CEOs have pledged that patients won't get unexpected bills after being tested for the novel coronavirus, and they've also agreed to waive co-pays for people covered by their plans, Pence said.
See also: How much does it cost to get tested for the coronavirus? Unfortunately the answer could depend on how good your insurance is
America's largest health insurance companies are waiving co-pays
Pence said he spoke on behalf of the country's largest insurers, who cover some 240 million Americans, either through private insurance or through Medicare or Medicaid. As of Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. had 1,050 cases of the coronavirus, and 29 deaths, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University .
"We want the American people to know that they are covered through private insurance. They are covered through Medicare and Medicaid. And there will be no surprise billing," Pence said.
Insurers have also agreed to cover telemedicine (talking to a doctor on the phone) and to "extend coverage for coronavirus treatment in all of their benefit plans," Pence said.
The major health insurers will cover treatment for the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 as they would any infectious disease, said Kristine Grow, spokeswoman for America's Health Insurance Plans. The trade group has published a list of what specific insurers have promised to do for people covered by their policies.
On Wednesday, the Internal Revenue Service announced that high-deductible health plans can cover coronavirus-related testing and treatment.
Pence's announcement came after several major insurers — including Aetna /zigman2/quotes/209664499/composite CVS +0.15% , Cigna /zigman2/quotes/208431372/composite CI +0.59% , Blue Cross Blue Shield /zigman2/quotes/203808743/composite ANTM +1.55% , UnitedHealth /zigman2/quotes/210453738/composite UNH +1.76% , Anthem and Emblem — had already pledged not to charge patients out-of-pocket costs for the coronavirus test. At Monday's White House meeting, Humana /zigman2/quotes/203095337/composite HUM +2.07% , Centene /zigman2/quotes/208900023/composite CNC +1.80% , and Kaiser Permanente joined the list. Some analysts expect insurers will have to raise premiums next year to cover the unanticipated costs of the coronavirus.
Previously, the governors of California, New York, Vermont, Washington and Maryland had said insurance companies in their states wouldn't be allowed to charge patients for the coronavirus test.
About 27.5 million Americans don't have health insurance
Approximately 27.5 million Americans, or 8.5% of the population, did not have health insurance at some point in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That was an increase from 2017, when 7.9% of Americans didn't have health coverage. The Trump administration has explored the possibility of using a federal disaster relief program to pay hospitals and other health-care providers who treat uninsured people for the novel coronavirus, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Some public-health experts have warned that Americans may be reluctant to get tested for the sometimes-fatal novel coronavirus COVID19 if they're worried about paying for the test. Stories about patients racking up hefty hospital bills related to coronavirus have sparked fears about its potential financial toll on individual consumers.
Surprise medical bills can push people into bankruptcy
Surprise medical bills, which typically happen when a patient gets unexpectedly charged for out-of-network health care, affect many Americans. One in five Americans who undergo elective surgery — or surgery that they schedule in advance — incur unexpected out-of-network medical bills, a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found. The average surprise bill was $2,011. Meanwhile, medical debt has been a factor in the rise of bankruptcies filed by Americans over 55.
The contagious, sometimes fatal novel coroanvirus has been spreading in the U.S., and public health officials have raced to test potentially infected people to help halt transmission. The Centers for Disease Control has started to ramp up testing, after a slow start. A total of 2.1 million tests were available as of Monday at public health labs in all 50 states, as well as at other sites such as hospitals and commercial labs, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Monday.
Worldwide, there were 121,564 COVID-19 cases and 4,373 deaths as of Wednesday afternoon; about 66,239 people had recovered, according to data published by the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering's Center for Systems Science and Engineering .
This story was updated on March 11, 2020.
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Leslie Albrecht is a personal finance reporter based in New York. She worked previously as a local news reporter at the New York City neighborhood news website DNAinfo, and as a reporter at the Modesto Bee and Merced Sun-Star, two McClatchy newspapers in California's Central Valley. She is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Follow her on Twitter @ReporterLeslie.