At-home Covid tests to be covered by Medicare in the spring.

• All Medicare beneficiaries will receive up to eight free tests per month under the planned change.
• Medicare-certified health clinics and government websites offer free tests.
• Lab tests also are free when ordered by an authorized health-care provider.

The government declared that Medicare beneficiaries will receive free at-home Covid tests starting early this spring.

The planned change in Medicare coverage means all beneficiaries, including those on Advantage Plans, will receive the same benefit of up to eight over-the-counter tests per month, regardless of whether Medicare was part of a Biden administration mandate for private insurers to cover the cost.

Medicare has approximately 63.3 million enrolled individuals, with the majority, 55.1 million, being aged 65 or older, and the remaining population consisting of individuals with permanent disabilities. This group is at a higher risk for severe illness from Covid.

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The cost of over-the-counter at-home Covid tests can vary greatly, from as low as $10 to hundreds of dollars. Laboratory tests can also be significantly more expensive. According to the current mandate, insurance companies must reimburse their enrollees up to $12 per test (or the actual cost of the test, whichever is lower).

Medicare's coverage for at-home tests will not begin until spring, but beneficiaries can obtain free tests in the interim.

You can order four free Covid-19 tests through Covidtests.gov, a government website launched last month. The site is accessible to all households and only requires your name and address for registration. No insurance information is necessary.

Medicare beneficiaries can access free at-home testing, stated Juliette Cubanski, deputy director of the program on Medicare policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Medicare-certified health clinics and community health centers also offer free kits to those eligible.

Cubanski advised enrollees in the Medicare Advantage Plan to verify if their plan already covers at-home tests.

Individuals can still obtain free testing at one of the more than 20,000 testing sites, which offer lab-based PCR tests, rapid PCR tests, and rapid antigen tests.

If a doctor orders it, there is no cost-sharing for the test. Otherwise, beneficiaries can get one lab test for free per year without a doctor's order.