Free COVID tests are back

3 weeks ago 15

Presented by Prevent Cancer Foundation — The Biden administration has relaunched its program sending free COVID-19 tests in the mail.

{beacon}

Health Care

The Big Story

Free COVID tests are back

The Biden administration relaunched its program sending free COVID-19 tests in the mail. Every household will be able to order four tests from covidtests.gov through the end of 2024.

Alix Martichoux / Nexstar

The move comes ahead of the typical fall and winter respiratory virus season, though a summer surge of infections has begun to fade.

This is the seventh time over the past three years the administration has made free tests available for all Americans.

The program has delivered more than 900 million free tests directly to American households since it started in the winter of 2021, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Health insurers no longer cover over-the-counter tests, which can cost about $10 or $11 per test at most pharmacies.

The tests give results within 30 minutes and can detect the currently circulating COVID-19 variants. They also include clear instructions on how to verify the extended expiration dates. Consumers are encouraged to check the Food and Drug Administration’s website to find the updated expiration information.

The announcement comes as the administration is trying to encourage people to get the updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends everyone 6 months and older get an updated COVID-19 vaccine and the updated flu vaccine.

Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Essential Reads

How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond:

Kentucky sues Express Scripts, alleging it helped fuel state’s opioid crisis

Kentucky’s attorney general is suing the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) Express Scripts over its role in “worsening” the state’s opioid crisis. In the complaint filed in state court, Attorney General Russell Coleman (R) argued Espress Scripts “is at the center of” the opioid dispensing chain that helped fuel the crisis. Coleman claimed the company and its affiliates colluded with manufacturers in deceptive marketing …

Full Story

McConnell: Harris-backed filibuster rule change would ‘turn America into California’

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) on Thursday warned that if Democrats follow through on Vice President Harris’s pledge to eliminate the filibuster to codify abortion protections, it would “turn America into California” by unleashing a flood of liberal reforms. He said Democrats would expand the Supreme Court once they eliminated the 60-vote threshold for passing legislation through the Senate, noting liberals’ …

Full Story

Democrats call for DOJ intervention in Boar’s Head listeria outbreak

Two Democrats are urging the Department of Justice to get involved with the fallout of a nationwide listeria outbreak linked to a Boar’s Head plant. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) asked the Department of Agriculture to work closely with the DOJ to determine whether to bring criminal charges against Boar’s Head for its responsibility in the outbreak, which has caused 10 deaths and …

Full Story

Around the Nation

Local and state headlines on health care:

Her state bans gender-affirming care for teenagers. So she travels 450 miles for it (NPR)
State officially seizes St. Elizabeth’s hospital, patients to see no care disruption (WBUR)
Texas maternal mortality committee asks to review abortion-related deaths (The Texas Tribune)

What We're Reading

Health news we've flagged from other outlets:

Acadia healthcare says it faces new federal investigations (The New York Times)
Four more health care workers reported illnesses after working after caring for bird flu case in Missouri (STAT)
A few rural towns are bucking the trend and building new hospitals (KFF News)

What Others are Reading

Most read stories on The Hill right now:

Harris narrowly beating Trump in 6 key battleground states: Polling

Vice President Harris is narrowly leading former President Trump in six critical battleground states, while the candidates are tied in Georgia, according … Read more

Israel seeks decisive blow with attack targeting Nasrallah

Israel on Friday sought to deal a decisive blow to Hezbollah by targeting the Iranian-backed group’s long-time leader Hassan Nasrallah, underscoring … Read more