Medicare Agrees To Cover 8 Home COVID Tests Per Month

A close up of many viruses on a red background


Medicare is usually the leader on what sort of medications are approved for payment, with private insurance companies typically following suit.  Not this time.  It was weeks after President Joe Biden said private insurance companies had to cover the cost of at-home COVID test that finally Medicare announced it would cover up to 8 tests per home per month.  Medicare will pay pharmacies and other entities directly to allow enrollees to pick up the free tests. Until the tests become available in drug stores, you can order them at wwww.CovidTests.gov.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2022/02/03/medicare-cover-free-covid-19-home-tests-starting-spring/6647349001/

Two Free COVID Test Options : Online Is The Easiest Option

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Americans can now get free at-home COVID-19 tests, either by ordering online or buying them at the store and getting reimbursed by private insurance.  Ordering them online at COVIDTests.gov is by far the easiest way.  I went in and filled out the form online and ordered four tests for free and the process was easy (although the tests have yet to arrive).  Those with private health insurance can also buy the tests at their local drugstore and applying for reimbursement from their private insurer or Medicare Advantage Plan if they cover it (Medicare does not cover this).  However, this can be a complicated process.  Anyone who has tried to file a claim themselves with an insurance company knows that the process is very slow and can be painful.  Reimbursement policies differ by insurance carrier so if four at-home tests will tide you over for the month, that is by far your best bet.

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/personal-finance/covid-test-kits-purchase-reimbursement-insurance/?tid=newsletter-dailydozen&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailydozen&cdlcid=607e1442fe2c195e916f3bb4

Free N95 Masks Coming Soon To A Drugstore Near You

A man wearing a mask with yellow warning tape around his mouth.


The Biden administration is expected to begin distributing a whopping 400 million free N95 masks to Americans all over the country.  The masks are coming from the Strategic National Stockpile and will be distributed via local pharmacies and community health centers.  The number of masks being distributed comprise about half of our National Stockpile.

 

Nursing Homes Being Hit Hard Again By COVID-19

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The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is hitting the elderly and nursing homes particularly hard, with the highest number of cases ever documented among staff and a near-record number of residents falling ill with the virus.  This, on top of a worker shortage which has hit virtually every industry, has made this particularly difficult to deal with.  For the week ending January 9, there were 32,061 new confirmed COVID-19 cases among nursing home residents, nearly triple the number of cases the week before (6,406), according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-cases-surge-at-nursing-homes-11641924320

 

President Biden To Require Insurers To Pay For At Home COVID-19 Tests

A cvs pharmacy store front with the door ajar.


The White House has announced that private health insurers will soon have to cover the cost of in-home COVID-19 tests, as long as they are authorized, cleared or approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA).  The new policy, which starts on Saturday, would allow for eight free tests per month.  “We are requiring insurers and group health plans to make tests free for millions of Americans.  This is all part of our overall strategy to ramp-up access to easy-to-use, at home tests at no cost,†Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a news release.  This is great news, because there are many people who have been vaccinated and had a booster which have been tested positive with the new strain of coronavirus which is spreading rapidly.

American Longevity Trend Not Holding With COVID-19

An older woman holding a pink string in her hand.


The trend of Americans living longer and longer was broken last year, thanks in large part to deaths from COVID-19, although not helping was the increase in drug overdoses, growth in deaths from heart disease, diabetes and homicide.  The average life expectancy dropped 1.8 years to 77 years in 2020, well above analyst estimates.  “I knew there was going to be a decline, but I didn’t expect it to be this large,†CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics and author of the report Elizabeth Arias, told The Wall Street Journal.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/life-expectancy-in-u-s-declined-1-8-years-in-2020-cdc-says-11640149261

Monterey, CA Elder Abuse Alert : Pandemic Related Scams Hit Seniors Hard : By Derek Baine

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The Federal Trade Commission recently unveiled an unpleasant statistic. We all know that millions of people died from COVID-19, however, it also resulted an opportunity for fraudsters to take advantage of the fear this created.  This resulted  in older Americans losing $600 million to scams in 2020, much of it fueled by pandemic-related schemes, according to federal officials.  Losses in many top categories topped 2019, according to the FTC, with online shopping scams up 129%, business imposter fraud up 88% and romance scams +66%.  Among the losses of those 60 and older, $104 million came from 26,518 complaints tied directly to COVID-19 scams (Source AARP Bulletin, November 2021 Issue, page 4).

Pebble Beach, CA Telemedicine Is Here To Stay, Says Medicare

A person holding a stethoscope in front of a laptop.


More than three times as many Medicare beneficiaries had access to their doctors via a phone or video visit during the pandemic than before, a trend which is likely to continue with the new COVID-19 variant causing another surge in coronavirus cases.  The Kaiser Foundation, which recently conducted a study on this issue, said that expanded telehealth care is really good news for people of color, those with disabilities and low income families.   Those living in rural areas had difficulty getting to the doctor even before coronavirus.  Believe it or not, Monterey County is considered rural and indeed in South and North County populations are spread out over quite a large footprint. Thankfully, in early 2020, Medicare expanded coverage of such visits to enable all enrollees to keep up with their medical care while minimizing their r4isk of exposure to the coronavirus.  Although the rules only extend through the end of 2021, there are a number of bills in Congress which would make telehealth coverage permanent.

https://www.aarp.org/health/medicare-insurance/info-2021/telehealth-increase-covid-pandemic.html

Pandemic, Inflation Weight Heavily On Social Security Fund

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Trustees for the Social Security trust fund have revised their forecasts, and although the pandemic weighed heavily on the system, it was not as bad as originally thought.  The program is forecasted to be out of funds by 2034, just one year sooner than they had forecast in their April 2020 report.  Unless Congress shores up the fund, benefits will be automatically reduced starting in 2034.  Also weighing heavily on Social Security is the fact that inflation has increased, pushing up the cost of living increase which will further deplete funds.  “There is an incredible amount of uncertainty,†one senior administration official said. “We haven’t lived through a pandemic like this in over 100 years, so we don’t know what the effects are.â€

Can Coronavirus Be Chased Away With LED Light?

A blue background with some type of virus


Medical start-up EmitBio thinks it may have a solution for those suffering from low-grade coronavirus, and even the flu and other viruses.  It is testing a handheld LED device that delivers light with precise frequencies, which, when shined to the back of a patient’s nose and throat, can provoke an immune response.  So far, the results look good, with 99.99% elimination of the delta variant of coronavirus in lung cells after three days of shining the light twice a day for about five minutes.  The device could even be used at home.  What an amazing technology.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2021/09/01/this-startup-wants-to-treat-mild-cases-of-covid-with-led-lights/?sh=bc9cf4772f4a&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailydozen&cdlcid=607e1442fe2c195e916f3bb4