Insurers concerned Biden administration could mean more testing costs
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Some insurers worry that the Biden administration could put them on the hook for more COVID-19 testing costs.
The Trump administration issued guidance stating that insurers responsibility to pay for COVID-19 tests is limited to tests that are medically necessary, despite Democratic lawmakers insistence that they intended to institute a broader requirement. However, that interpretation could change under a Democratic administration.
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act requires insurers to cover COVID-19 tests without patient cost-sharing, but the guidance, issued June 23, says that the law only applies to tests that are deemed medically appropriate by a healthcare provider.
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WASHINGTON, Dec. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ Today, The Kennedy Forum released the Jim Ramstad Model State Parity Legislation, which will hold health insurers accountable for discriminating against those with mental health and substance use disorders by wrongly denying coverage of care.
Jim Ramstad served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1991-2009, representing Minnesota s 3rd congressional district. He joined former Democratic Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy as the lead Republican cosponsor of the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA), which requires insurers to cover treatment for mental health and substance use disorders no more restrictively than treatment for illnesses of the body, such as diabetes and cancer.