Biden's New COVID-19 Plan Includes Reimbursement For Over The Counter, At-Home COVID Tests

President Biden announced that private health insurance plans would soon reimburse people who buy over-the-counter (OTC), at-home rapid tests for COVID-19.

What Happened: The move marks one of a series of steps the White House is planning to encourage better detection and prevention of COVID-19, especially in light of emerging cases with omicron variant.

The U.S. government will require private health insurers to reimburse their 150 million customers for the cost of OTC, at-home COVID-19 tests, administration officials said.

Fifty million tests would be made available free through rural clinics and health centers for the uninsured. However, reimbursement for tests will not kick in until January.

Why It Matters: Companies offering OTC/at-home COVID-19 tests include Abbott Laboratories ABT, Roche Holdings AG RHHBY, Lucira Health Inc LDHX, Becton Dickinson and Co BDX, among others.

The U.S also plans to require inbound international passengers to be tested for COVID-19 within one day of departure, regardless of vaccination status. Mask requirements on airplanes, trains, and public vehicles will be extended to March 18. 

The new plan will also include tripling the number of "surge response teams" that provide extra staff at hospitals that are overrun with patients to 60 from its current level, Biden said.

Psaki said that the Biden administration would clarify whether private health insurance companies would get government money to reimburse customers for OTC tests when it releases guidance on the issue by mid-January.

However, a White House official said that the government would not reimburse private health insurers for the cost of at-home tests. The official said that insurers were required to cover diagnostic testing for COVID-19 "without any cost-sharing requirements during the public health emergency," the official said.

Additional free tests at healthcare clinics should be available as soon as this month, Psaki said.

The largest U.S. employer-based health insurers include Cigna Corp CI, UnitedHealth Group UNH, and CVS Health Corp CVS. 

Currently, insurers are reimbursed a set amount by the government for most medically necessary COVID-19 tests performed in labs and medical offices.