STATES SHIELDING CONSUMERS FROM HIGH COVID-19 TEST COSTS

WASHINGTON - States are trying to step in to protect patients from high costs associated with coronavirus tests. From Washington to Tennessee, officials are issuing regulations to tamp down on costs, concerned that the federal government is failing to do the job.

The costs of tests are, in some cases, staggering. One national insurer was billed $6,946 for a coronavirus test in Texas. In Oklahoma, health plans received 175 out-of-network claims for coronavirus tests over a single week that ranged from $153 to $2,315 per test, said Laura Fleet, executive director of the Oklahoma Association of Health Plans.

High costs could dissuade patients from getting tested — thereby setting back surveillance.

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