CVS-Aetna to waive co-pays for coronavirus hospitalizations. Previously, CVS Health cut cost-sharing for diagnostic testing and telemedicine sessions. The company also says it has taken steps. Aetna self-insured plan sponsors may waive these benefits at their discretion. Free COVID-19 testing We’ll waive the cost for testing, provided you meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for testing and your doctor requests it. Bias fx free download mac. Aetna offers health insurance, as well as dental, vision and other plans, to meet the needs of individuals and families, employers, health care providers and insurance agents/brokers.
CVS Health said March 6 it is making diagnostic testing and telemedicine visits available with no copay for Aetna members to help reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The company said it will waive copays for all diagnostic testing related to COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, for those who meet CDC guidelines for testing.
For the next 90 days, Aetna is offering zero copays for telemedicine visits for any reason as a way to limit potential exposure to the coronavirus in physician offices. It will apply to all video visits made through the CVS Minuteclinic app, Aetna-covered Teladoc visits and in-network providers offering video visits.
Aetna members diagnosed with COVID-19 will be sent a care package containing over-the-counter drugs to help relieve symptoms and personal and household cleaning supplies to help keep others in the home protected from exposure.
Aetna also said it will reach out to its members that are most at-risk for COVID-19 and walk them through what they should do to protect themselves, where to get information and where to get tested.
Read the full news release here.
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One of the nation’s biggest health insurers is waiving patient payments for hospital stays tied to the coronavirus.
CVS Health’s insurer Aetna said Wednesday that many of its customers will not have to make co-payments or other forms of cost sharing if they wind up admitted to a hospital in the insurer’s provider network.
The move could save those patients thousands of dollars, depending on their coverage and how much health care they’ve used so far this year.
The waiver lasts through June 1. It applies to the insurer’s 3.6 million customers who have fully-insured coverage, which is usually offered through a small business. Big employers that offer Aetna coverage also can chose to waive those payments, a spokesman for the insurer said.
The new coronavirus has caused a global pandemic that has infected more than 428,000 people and killed over 19,000 worldwide, crippled economies and forced restrictions on the movement of millions of people in an effort to stop the virus from spreading further and overwhelming health care systems.
CVS Health Executive Vice President Karen Lynch said in a statement the company is trying to ensure that its customers have “simple and affordable access” to treatment during the pandemic.
Many insurers have waived patient costs for testing or doctor visits and telemedicine to encourage people to get help with coronavirus symptoms.
But Aetna, which covers nearly 23 million people, is the first major insurer to extend a payment waiver to the bills many patients will fear most if they become sick.
Adobe lightroom cc mac download. For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
A recent study put together by researchers with the Covered California health insurance exchange found that a lengthy hospital stay of 12 days could cost a total of $72,000 on average nationally, depending on factors like how long a patient stays in an intensive care unit.
Insured patients would only pay a slice of that bill, but that slice could amount to as much as $6,000 depending on their coverage. Many plans have deductibles that patients must pay before most of their coverage starts.
They also have out-of-pocket maximums, or limits for how much each patient has to spend on care each year. Experts say one hospital stay could easily push a patient up to the plan’s limits.
“If you end up in a hospital you are going to blow through your deductible,” said Peter Lee, the California exchange’s executive director.
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