The new law marks an important step toward an optimal public health response to COVID-19. But it is crucial that the Governor’s administration fill remaining gaps to protect the health of our entire state. For the new law to remove all financial barriers to testing in Texas, Governor Abbott must take further steps to respond to COVID-19 at a state level. These additional steps include: - accepting an increase in our federal Medicaid matching funds;
- opting into a temporary 100% federally-funded free COVID-19 testing program administered through Medicaid;
- opting into and implementing a separate 100% federally-funded pool to guarantee free testing for non-citizens; and
- requiring that some bare-bones and non-insurance coverage, excluded from the new federal law that requires testing coverage, immediately inform their customers of any testing out-of-pocket costs and provide them with information on how to access free testing for the uninsured. For more details on how Governor Abbott can guarantee that all Texans have access to testing, read our new policy brief.
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