(Reuters) – CVS Health Corp said on Monday it would immediately waive charges for home delivery of prescription medications, in response to the U.S. health agencies urging patients to stay at home amid a fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak.
This follows the company’s announcement on Friday that its health insurance unit, Aetna, will offer all diagnostic testing and telemedicine visits without any patient cost sharing for the next 90 days.
Aetna will also waive early refill limits on 30-day prescription maintenance medications for all members with pharmacy benefits administered through CVS Caremark, the company said.
“With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) encouraging people at higher risk for COVID-19 complications to stay at home as much as possible, this is a convenient option to avoid coming to the pharmacy for refills or new prescriptions,” CVS Health’s Chief Medical Officer Troyen Brennan said.
Other health insurers such as Cigna Corp have also said they will cover diagnostic testing when ordered by a doctor and/or waive patient cost sharing.
The U.S. CDC reported eight more deaths due to the outbreak on Monday, taking the total toll in the country to 19.
(Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
