July 2022

COVID at-home tests are free through your insurance. Yes, really.

COVID at-home tests are free through your insurance. Yes, really.

As the U.S. faces another surge in COVID-19 cases, Americans on most insurance plans can get up to eight rapid tests per month at no cost to help detect infection and prevent further spread.

Insurance companies have been required to cover the tests authorized by the FDA since January, when the Biden administration put the federal requirement for private health insurers into effect.

Not everyone can get free COVID tests; millions of military families covered by the Defense health program Tricare can’t get them covered without an order from a health care provider for now, but Medicare members began taking advantage of the rule in April.

Here’s what to know:

COVID-19 CASES ON THE RISE:What to know about the current state of the pandemic

Who can get free COVID tests?

Each person covered as part of a qualifying insurance program is entitled to up to eight free at-home tests over-the-counter every 30 days. That means a family of four could get up to 32 tests. Plans are required to cover $12 per individual test, or $24 for a box of two.

How can you get them?

Some insurance plans will cover tests sold at in-network pharmacies at

… Read the rest
July 18, 2022 by INSURANCE

Indiana doctor abortion report, 10-year-old girl abortion

Indiana doctor abortion report, 10-year-old girl abortion

INDIANAPOLIS — After Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita threatened to go after the license of an Indiana physician who provided an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio, documents obtained by FOX59 through a public record request proved the physician not only filed a terminated pregnancy report but filed the report within the required timeframe.

The terminated pregnancy report, obtained by FOX59’s Angela Ganote, shows that Caitlin Bernard, an Indiana obstetrician-gynecologist, reported the abortion on July 2, two days after the abortion was performed and within the three days required for terminations to be reported to the Department of Child Service and the Indiana Department of Health.

In the report, Bernard also indicated that the child suffered abuse.

Bernard publically shared the story of the 10-year-old rape victim’s abortion in an interview with the Indianapolis Star earlier this month. The 10-year-old girl had been impregnated when she was raped by a 27-year-old in Ohio and traveled to Indiana to get an abortion due to Ohio banning abortions after six weeks following the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

The story of the 10-year-old gained national attention with some news outlets and politicians even expressing doubt that the

… Read the rest
July 18, 2022 by LAW

42,000 Louisiana homeowners dropped by insurance company Friday; State Insurance Commissioner addresses crisis

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – 42,000 homeowners are looking for a new insurance policy as of Friday. The company, Southern Fidelity dropped them and now they have 60 days to find a new policy.

Nearly 100,000 policyholders total have been dropped by Southern Fidelity, Lighthouse Excalibur and Maison.

Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon says six companies have pulled out completely and more than 50 have stopped writing new policies below I-10 and I-12, making the state’s insurer of last resort, Louisiana Citizens, the only option for most.

“As we get further away and hopefully go unscathed through this hurricane season, more of those companies will return to the market, I am certain, as it happened 15 years ago after Katrina and Rita,” Donelon said.

Southern Fidelity customers have until September 13 to find a new policy or sign with Citizens.

Lighthouse and Maison have until August 28.

If you sign with Citizens, the coverage will be retroactive back to the day your policy was canceled, so there’s no gap.

Donelon says the number of Citizens’ policies has jumped from 35,000 to 82,000 and he expects it to grow to 95,000.

That overwhelmed the system, which only has two computer servers. That’s why

… Read the rest
July 17, 2022 by INSURANCE

What Ohio abortion law says about a pregnant 10-year-old rape victim

Comment

The conservative effort to cast a story about a pregnant 10-year-old Ohio rape victim as a hoax has now fallen apart, with confirmation of the case arriving Wednesday. While some merely noted the initial report hadn’t been confirmed, several conservative media figures and Republican politicians went significantly further in casting it as a dirty trick meant to make the GOP’s post-Roe v. Wade laws look bad; high on that list was Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R).

But as attention now turns to the reality of the case and what it means, something else Yost claimed Monday on Fox News looms large: that the girl didn’t actually have to leave Ohio to seek the abortion in Indiana, as she reportedly did.

“Speaking of hoaxes, though, can I correct something that everybody’s reporting wrong nationally?” Yost asked the host.

He continued: “Ohio’s heartbeat law has a medical emergency exception broader than just the life of the mother. This young girl, if she exists, and if this horrible thing actually happened to her — breaks my heart to think about it — she did not have to leave Ohio to find treatment.”

Yost’s appeared to

… Read the rest
July 17, 2022 by LAW

Lawyer for Indiana abortion doctor warns of legal action against those who ‘smeared’ client

An attorney for Dr. Caitlin Bernard has threatened legal action against those who “smeared” her client, insisting the Indianapolis physician complied with the law in treating a 10-year-old Ohio girl who traveled to Indiana for an abortion.

Attorney Kathleen DeLaney said that her client “took every appropriate and proper action in accordance with the law and both her medical and ethical training as a physician.”

“She followed all relevant policies, procedures, and regulations in this case, just as she does every day to provide the best possible care for her patients,” Ms. DeLaney said in a Thursday statement. “She has not violated any law, including patient privacy laws, and she has not been disciplined by her employer. We are considering legal action against those who have smeared my client, including Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, and know that the facts will all come out in due time.”

Mr. Rokita launched an investigation Wednesday into whether Dr. Bernard complied with reporting laws on child abuse after she told the Indianapolis Star in a July 1 article that she treated a pregnant 10-year-old. The case has become a flashpoint on abortion access since the fall of Roe v. Wade in a Supreme

… Read the rest
July 16, 2022 by LAW