Medicare will cover up to eight over-the-counter rapid at-home COVID - 19 tests each calendar month, at no cost to you.
The free tests are available without prescription to all Medicare beneficiaries with Part B, including those enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan. If you only have Medicare Part A coverage, Medicare won’t cover the cost, but you may be able to get free tests through other programs.
You can get over-the counter COVID – 19 tests at any pharmacy or health care provider that participates in this initiative. For a partial list of participating pharmacies, click here. You do not have to be a current customer of the pharmacy in order to receive the testes, and Advantage plan enrollees may use an out – of – network pharmacy. You should bring your red, white, and blue Medicare Card (even if you have a Medicare Advantage or Medicare Part D plan), but the pharmacy may be able to get the information it needs to bill Medicare without the card.
There is no cost to you as long as you do not order more than eight test per calendar month. Note that tests are often packaged 2 tests in a box, so eight tests may not mean eight boxes. If you do pay for a test yourself Medicare will not reimburse you. Medicare enrollees who order testes form Covidtests.gov do not have to count those tests against Medicare’s eight-test-per-month limit.
For more information about the free COVID tests from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, click here.
RB2022-0524