Really? Which pharmacy and how do you ask for them. Any info is much appreciated.
I went to the pharmacy and asked for covid tests. They charged me $10 a test. Should I have asked for the free ones?
My local pharmacy never had free masks either. I asked when I heard others were finding them
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Didn’t the federal government give anyone free COVID tests? Or did that offer end already? I was able to pick them up at my local pharmacy.
I’m not talking about the ones by mail.
Maybe this is not the case any longer…I know this is CMS Medicare, but the info applied to anyone with insurance.
@deb922 your insurance will cover the cost if you have your receipt.
Do you have CVS? This explains how you can get them for free - you can order online with your insurance info and then pick up your order for free in the store or pay for them and get reimbursed.
Thanks. I did ask to be reimbursed for the tests I bought. Walgreens sent a very helpful email and gave me instructions to do that. I didn’t know, and it’s great advice that we can do that.
BCBS’s instructions said that a cash register receipt wasn’t acceptable, I hope that was just old and that I’ll be reimbursed. If they accept it I will receive a check in a ridiculous amount of time like 60 days.
I was traveling when I needed to find covid tests and so I think it is topical to this discussion. It’s weird trying to figure out where to find rapid tests when not at home. It was a very unsettling experience. At home I had tests, so traveling and not knowing where to find these things was different
We will be traveling in August…and will take two boxes of tests with us. We have a bunch of boxes.
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Ever since D2 had Omicron while we were skiing in Utah last December I have always packed a few tests when we travel.
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Unless I am going to my children’s homes, where they both have plenty of test, I pack several boxes. When we took a beach trip last month with the kids and grandkids, I packed about 8 boxes, knowing we could find more if needed; luckily we didn’t need them!
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I pack boxes for even our little weekend trips. It’s my insurance that I won’t need them. If I don’t pack them, then I undoubtedly will need them.
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That’s my umbrella trick! 
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For folks with Medicare B, participating pharmacies, including Costco will give you Covid tests at no charge if you go to the pharmacy and present your Nexh are card and they write up a prescription and then inmssye you a box of Covid tests. You could get up to 8 at a time (we only got a box of 5 tests because they were only selling those). Maximum of up to 8 tests/person/month.
Insurance will reimburse up to $12/test per person as well. Again, up to 8 kits/month/person.
I got free ones in the mail once. But haven’t seen any free ones lately. I’d imagine they would disappear quick. It’s kind of odd because there were some town which did hand them out to residents last Winter at the fire dept and library. But our town never announced anything. I did call once but then left it alone. I bet someone just took all of them :(.
Blue Cross is denying my claims for reimbursement for the covid tests I’ve bought. No idea why except that they said that register receipts aren’t acceptable.
I can’t imagine what would a proper form of proof of purchase be since it’s a covid test I bought in a drug store.
Oh well, I tried. It’s not like I can’t afford the tests. It’s just that I have no idea how I was to submit them
You will need to take more than 2 boxes since a positive result may not show up until a few days after symptoms. When my H was infected, I tested myself everyday for a week because I was seeing grandkids. Thankfully I was never infected.
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I’ve been reimbursed for batch of tests I bough in Feb. sent in receipts and upc for 2nd batch of tests I bought in June and am awaiting reimbursement for them. My register receipt, UPCs and the requested info was all that was required, plus completing form and emailing it all in to insurer. When I snail mailed it, it got lost in mail room. The online firm didn’t allow you to attach proof of purchase but didn’t accept form without it. They haven’t fixed that glitch, so just emailed everything.
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The other thing I have done since I started traveling in this time of Covid is pack a few extra things. I use to pack just what I need, but I add a few additional pairs of underwear, shirts, bottoms, just in case I get stuck somewhere I have to isolate.
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Starting to re-think the Appletags. Though I doubt I’d use them again. Using them to find a potentially lost bag among thousands seems like a good use category. Just reading stories about hundreds of bags lost daily and thousands in the bag area at some airports. Don’t want to have to find a small black bag in a sea of bags.
I didn’t keep the UPC’s, it’s fine, I thought I’d inform people that apparently my insurance is making it difficult to be reimbursed for something they should cover.
Like I say I was out of town and wasn’t sure what was needed for reimbursement.
I can use my HSA but I won’t. I’m going to keep that for Medicare expenses down the line.
You can take a photo of upc from same kit at the store if you can find and resubmit. It’s just red tape.
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Smart move adding clarification to the thread title!
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