Health Matters

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You have a week to stock up on free at-home COVID-19 tests

By Jamie Ducharme

Health Correspondent

A week from today, the U.S. government will no longer officially consider COVID-19 a public health emergency. The end of that era will trigger quite a few changes in the worlds of health care and insurance, but for many people, one of the most immediate impacts will be the end of reimbursable access to free at-home tests each month through insurance.

Insurers may continue to cover some or all costs related to at-home testing, but they won’t be required to do so after May 11. To save you the task of wading through a mess of confusing coverage documents, I contacted some of the U.S.’ largest health insurers to find out what they’re planning to do once the public health emergency ends.

To make a long story short: Most will not cover at-home tests beginning May 12. If you want to have some inventory, I suggest ordering your last eight guaranteed swabs while you still can.

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Today's newsletter was written by Jamie Ducharme and Haley Weiss, and edited by Angela Haupt.

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