Affordable Coronavirus Tests Are Out There, if You Look
The New York Times
A federal plan to require health insurers to cover the cost of at-home tests is not yet in effect. But there are other options.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration announced that it would soon require private health insurers to reimburse consumers for the cost of at-home coronavirus tests. It was a step toward improving access to the tests, which remain more expensive in the United States than in Europe, where they are often distributed for little or no cost.
But the Biden plan has not yet gone into effect, and the cost of repeated rapid tests, which begins at $7 per test, can quickly add up.
“It still is too expensive for the typical American household to be rapid testing everyone in the household every week,” said Zoe McLaren, a health policy expert at the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
