Two Friends in Texas Were Tested for Coronavirus. One Bill Was $199. The Other? $6,408. – The New York Times

The Trump administration has taken steps to limit patients out-of-pocket costs for coronavirus testing and treatment, using relief funds to reimburse providers for uninsured patients bills. Insurers are required to cover patients coronavirus tests with no cost-sharing or co-payments. Alex Azar, the health and human services secretary, reiterated that commitment in a Sunday interview on CNN, saying, If you are uninsured, it will be covered by us.

The testing experience of the Texas group suggests that it doesnt always work out that way. Some emergency rooms charge cash prices and tack on testing fees that insurers are not required to cover. In this case, the patient who paid cash actually got the best deal. Mr. Harvey has health insurance but felt it would be a hassle to use it for the coronavirus test. So he paid for his test with two $100 bills after receiving the nasal swab, and was on his way.

Updated June 30, 2020

Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

A commentary published this month on the website of the British Journal of Sports Medicine points out that covering your face during exercise comes with issues of potential breathing restriction and discomfort and requires balancing benefits versus possible adverse events. Masks do alter exercise, says Cedric X. Bryant, the president and chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit organization that funds exercise research and certifies fitness professionals. In my personal experience, he says, heart rates are higher at the same relative intensity when you wear a mask. Some people also could experience lightheadedness during familiar workouts while masked, says Len Kravitz, a professor of exercise science at the University of New Mexico.

The steroid, dexamethasone, is the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.

The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who dont typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the countrys largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave.

So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was very rare, but she later walked back that statement.

Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus whether its surface transmission or close human contact is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.

The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nations job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.

If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

If youve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

Ms. LeBlanc let the emergency room take a photograph of her insurance card. She ended up with $6,408 in charges, mostly from an outside lab called Genesis Laboratory that handled her testing. She received explanation-of-benefit statements suggesting she would owe more than $1,000.

Jay Lenner, who also got a drive-through test from the same provider, used his insurance and received a similarly long list of charges. He recalls a provider saying hed be tested only for coronavirus, but bill records show he was also screened for Legionnaires disease, herpes and enterovirus, among other things.

The emergency room also charged him $1,684 for using its facility and $634 to see one of its doctors. All told, he ended up with $5,649 in bills, of which his insurance plan paid $4,914. Mr. Lenner didnt end up on the hook for any of it, but hes still frustrated. Ultimately, we pay for this in higher premiums, he said.

Michelle Tribble, a spokeswoman for Austin Emergency Center, said it needed to charge high prices because insurers often pay only a small share of their fees.

For emergency room visits, the reimbursement to us by insurance companies is typically a fifth or a third of total charges, she said. If an insurance company were to bill a patient for an out-of-network visit to our emergency room, our billing company would go to bat for that patient and would appeal on their behalf.

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Two Friends in Texas Were Tested for Coronavirus. One Bill Was $199. The Other? $6,408. - The New York Times