Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a briefing on the administration’s coronavirus response in the press briefing room of the White House on March 2, 2020 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty 

The Trump administration issued policy guidance this week telling health insurance companies that they are not required by law to cover the Covid-19 tests employers may compel workers to undergo as a condition for returning to their jobs.

The announcement (pdf) Tuesday by the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services alarmed healthcare advocates and lawmakers who warned the move gives profitable insurers a green light to push the costs of potentially expensive coronavirus screenings onto workers.

“Once again, the Trump administration is prioritizing corporate profits over people. I’m deeply concerned that this will disproportionately impact frontline workers.”
—Rep. Frank Pallone Jr.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act, a relief bill President Donald Trump signed into law in March, includes a provision (pdf) mandating that insurers and employer-provided plans cover “Covid-19 testing and related services without cost-sharing.”

But the Trump administration says in its guidance that the law only requires insurers to cover “medically […]

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