Utah opens Medicaid-paid COVID-19 testing those without health insurance

Those without health insurance can now have COVID-19 testing paid for by Medicaid, state officials have announced. The new policy went into effect early last week and will cover diagnostic testing for the disease, as well as antibody testing and some services related to testing evaluation, such as X-rays, a news release said.

People must be uninsured and meet citizenship and Utah residency requirements to qualify for the Medicaid coverage, the statement said. To be considered uninsured, people must not be on another public or private healthcare plan, such as Medicare or Veterans Health Administration benefits.

People can apply for Medicaid testing coverage by visiting medicaid.utah.gov/covid-19-uninsured-testing-coverage. A health department official will process the application within two to three business days. If approved, people will receive a Medicaid card in the mail within several days and the coverage will be backdated to the first day of the month in which they applied.