Following Calls from Senator Hassan, Biden Administration Announces Medicare Will Cover Cost of Rapid COVID-19 Tests

WASHINGTON – Following calls from U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan, the Biden administration announced today that Medicare will cover over-the-counter COVID-19 tests at no cost starting in early spring. Last month, Senator Hassan, a member of the Senate Finance Committee which has oversight of the Medicare program, joined her Senate colleagues in urging the Biden administration to extend its guidance requiring insurance companies to pay for rapid COVID-19 tests to include Medicare.

“Seniors are often at the highest risk for COVID-19, which is why it’s important that the administration heeded my call to ensure that Medicare recipients can access free COVID tests,” Senator Hassan said. “I will keep working to reduce barriers to health care and lower costs for Granite State seniors.”

Under this new initiative, Medicare beneficiaries will be able to access up to eight over-the-counter COVID-19 tests per month for free. This policy will apply to COVID-19 over-the-counter tests approved or authorized by the Food and Drug Administration.

Senator Hassan is working to lower health care costs for all Americans, and led successful, bipartisan efforts with Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) to help end the practice of surprise medical billing, which is now in effect. Senators Hassan and Cassidy also successfully passed into law their bipartisan legislation to enhance education about biosimilar drug products in an effort to increase competition and lower drug costs. Additionally, the American Rescue Plan, which Senator Hassan helped pass into law, is helping to lower health care costs for many Granite Staters who purchase health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces.

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