02-27-2020, 08:43 PM
rjmacs wrote:
There is not a reliable test for Covid-19 available at most medical centers right now - the tests are complex and currently carried out at advanced medical centers. Once one exists, it will surely be covered by Medicare and insurance where medically appropriate...
Don't be so sure.
Heard on the radio yesterday that insurance companies are not planning on covering Coronavirus tests because they're "experimental and unproven" (and it often takes repeated testing over a few days to find it in a nose/throat swab, so multiply accordingly). It's expected to leave some people on the hook for thousands of dollars per test and may already be doing so in California. As an example of where the prices might go, they told the story of a guy admitted to the ER who had a flu test and got charged $3,000 for it because his insurance refused to pay for it even though he tested positive for the flu which you might think was per se medical justification.
('Cost ME over a hundred out of pocket WITH insurance for a flu test a couple of years ago because that was the negotiated price between the clinic and my ins company even though the test retails for $10.)