Free COVID-19 Home Tests for Health Plan Members

Free COVID-19 Home Tests for Health Plan Members

The Biden administration recently announced that selected at-home rapid COVID-19 tests bought starting January 15, 2022, will be covered by health insurers. As a University health plan member, this means that you will have access to these tests and Prime Therapeutics will cover the cost upfront or reimburse you.

What is covered

You are eligible for up to eight at-home COVID-19 testing kits every 30 days for each Medica-covered person in your household.  You can buy the tests at your local pharmacy or online. The University’s pharmacy vendor, Prime Therapeutics, has a group of pharmacies that will bill these at-home COVID-19 tests to the University of Minnesota’s Pharmacy Program and process them at no up-front cost to you.

Note that tests cannot be bought to resell, or for required employee testing. Prescription tests must be used for those required by an employer to have routine testing, and at-home tests do not require a prescription. 

Approved tests

You can call Prime Therapeutics at 1-800-727-6181 for the most current list of approved tests since the list of approved tests is subject to change.  

Prime Therapeutics participating pharmacies

If you go to a Prime Therapeutic participating pharmacy, you may be able to avoid having to pay for the tests out-of-pocket. 

Find a participating pharmacy by searching online: 

  1. Go to www.myprime.com.
  2. Scroll down to “Manage Your Medicines.”
  3. Click on “Find a Pharmacy.”
  4. Enter your ZIP code or address in the pharmacy search tool to display in-network pharmacies.
  5. Call your selected pharmacies to ask about the availability of at-home tests. (See the list of approved tests, above.) 

Buy your COVID-19 test from a participating pharmacy

  • Pharmacy counter
    • Check to see if the brand is covered by Prime Therapeutics. See above.
    • To buy the at-home COVID-19 testing kit(s), show your Prime Therapeutics card and ask the pharmacy to submit the claim to the University of Minnesota Medical–Pharmacy Program. 
    • If the pharmacy employee is not able to submit the claim, you can still get reimbursed later. Pay out-of-pocket, save your receipt, and follow the instructions below to get reimbursed for your payment. 
  • Regular checkout counter or approved online retailer 
    • Check to see if the brand is covered by Prime Therapeutics. See above.
    • If you buy at the regular checkout counter or through an approved online retailer, you will have to pay for the test kits. 
    • Then, submit a paper claim form to request reimbursement. See below.

Get reimbursed if you buy a test kit somewhere else

If you buy covered tests online, through a local retailer, or the pharmacy could not submit a claim on your behalf and you paid out of pocket for the at-home test kits, you can request reimbursement through Prime Therapeutics. Here are the steps: 

  • Fill out the paper claim request form. If you plan to buy tests regularly, save the form to your desktop or print several.

  • Follow the form instructions and submit the paper claim request form for reimbursement along with the receipt from the retailer where the test kit was bought. You will need to put the UPC code on the box into the NDC space on the form to complete the form.

  • The following form fields DO NOT need to be filled out:

    • Pharmacist's signature
    • Pharmacy NPI number
    • RX number
    • Physician NPI number
  • Send the completed form to:
    • Prime Therapeutics
      Mail Route Commercial
      PO 25136
      Lehigh Valley, PA 18002-5136

Important note: Prime Therapeutics will reimburse the cost of the COVID-19 at-home test kit on the receipt, up to $12 per individual test. If you purchased a test kit and paid more than $12 per test, you are responsible for the amount over $12. There is no reimbursement for COVID-19 test kits that are used for employment purposes or for resale.

More information on free and low-cost COVID testing options for employees is available.