Beshear signs order requiring free coronavirus testing for Kentuckians with insurance
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order Monday that requires health insurance companies to cover the full cost of testing for novel coronavirus in Kentucky once the test becomes available from commercial labs.
Beshear said it remains unclear when testing for COVID-19 will become widely available in Kentucky, though he hopes within a week.
His order will “wave co-pays, deductibles, cost-sharing and diagnostic testing fees for private insurance and state employees,” as well as “removing any impediments” for any Kentuckian currently receiving Medicaid benefits from “getting tested or treated [for the virus],” Beshear said.
No insurer, including Medicaid, can require prior authorization for a COVID-19 test, he said.
There are about 433,000 Kentuckians on private insurance, roughly 30,000 state employees, and more than 1.3 million residents receiving Medicaid benefits.
Testing for COVID-19 in Kentucky, processed at state public health laboratories in Frankfort, involves collecting two samples: one from the back of a patient’s throat, also called a throat culture, and the other is a swab from the back of a patient’s nose, called a nasopharyngeal swab, public health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack said.
Four patients in Kentucky had tested positive for novel coronavirus in Kentucky as of Monday morning. Two were in Harrison County, one was in Lexington and one was in Jefferson County.
Only one of the four had a history of traveling to an area hit hard by the virus, leading state health officials to conclude the other three cases were spread person-to-person in the community, Beshear said.
This story was originally published March 9, 2020 at 2:02 PM.
