Coronavirus (COVID-19)

6 in 10 Who Tried to Purchase an At-Home Test and a Third Who Sought an In-Person Test Say It Was Difficult to Find, Though Most Were Eventually Able to Get a Test Black and Hispanic Adults are More Likely Than White Adults to Worry About Omicron’s Effects, Including Becoming…

As part of an effort to promote equitable access to tests, the Biden administration launched a testing supply program that has set aside 25 million rapid at-home self-test kits for distribution by community health centers. Under the program, health centers will be distributing self-tests to patients and community members, with a focus on populations at greatest risk from adverse outcomes related to COVID-19.

The Biden Administration’s requirement for private insurers to cover the cost of at-home rapid COVID-19 tests for their enrollees does not apply to Medicare. Medicare Advantage plans (offered by private insurers) have the option to cover at-home tests but are not required to do so. This policy watch examines whether some of the largest private Medicare Advantage plans are covering the cost of at-home rapid tests for COVID-19.

This report shows that 42% of all adults have received a COVID-19 booster, including about 70% of those who are likely booster-eligible. More than three quarters (77%) have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The poll also explores the public’s experiences getting at-home and in-person COVID-19 tests and other issues.

This brief describes the main sources of federal funding for hospitals and other health care providers during the pandemic, including how those funds have been allocated.

Hispanic, Asian, and Black people are more likely than White people to live in households with more than four people, where not everyone will receive a free COVID-19 test from the federal government.

Less than a week after a new federal mandate to cover such products took effect, about half of the nation’s largest private insurers allow enrollees to directly obtain rapid at-home COVID-19 tests from specific sources without having to pay anything upfront, a new KFF analysis finds. The new coverage requirement…

As COVID cases have surged across the United States due to the new Omicron variant, the Biden Administration has stepped up efforts to expand testing capacity including by making at-home COVID tests more available.

This policy watch provides an early look at how top private insurers are implementing a new requirement to cover the cost of at-home COVID-19 tests. Initially about half offer a direct coverage option and half require an enrollee to pay upfront and then seek reimbursement.

An updated KFF analysis finds that counties that voted for Biden continue to have higher COVID-19 vaccination rates compared to counties that voted for Trump. As of January 11, 65% of those in Biden counties were fully vaccinated versus 52% of those in Trump counties. Even with the Omicron variant…