Vice President Mike Pence announced Tuesday that the CDC has broadly expanded who can be tested for the Coronavirus.
The CDC had earlier required that people show specific symptoms before being tested. Pence said at a White House news conference that under the CDC’s new guidelines, “any American can get tested” if a doctor suspects the virus.
These new testing guidelines come after several governors told Pence they were under the “impression that tests would not be administered to people who were only mildly symptomatic.”
Officials had confirmed 77 cases in the U.S. across 13 states and nine deaths as of Tuesday. Seven of those deaths involved patients from a nursing home near Seattle, Washington.
Despite reporting otherwise in the mainstream media, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been far ahead of the rest of the world.
The state of Florida, for example, announced on March 9th that Florida Medicaid will cover Coronavirus testing. Naseem S. Miller of Orlando Sentinel reports, “Florida Medicaid will cover all medically necessary services required for testing and treatment of COVID-19, including doctor visits for collecting samples, state officials announced on Monday.”
The largest insurer in the state, Florida Blue, has waived all co-pays and deductibles for COVID-19 testing.
Watch the video to hear Vice President Mike Pence’s announcement that Health Care CEOs across America have agreed to cover coronavirus treatment.
