The clash between labs and private insurers over reimbursement for COVID-19 testing is getting louder and uglier by the moment. Labs have accused insurers of evading the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA) mandate to cover COVID-19 tests without cost sharing, particularly with regard to rapid tests for the asymptomatic. But now insurers are taking the offensive by suing labs for COVID-19 test price gouging. One of the central battlefields in the ongoing conflict are the recent lawsuits by Blue Cross and Shield insurers against GS Labs, a leading provider of COVID-19 rapid tests in 13 states and 27 locations nationwide. Price Gouging & the CARES Act Loophole On March 27, 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, in part to implement the FFCRA free COVID-19 test mandate. The CARES Act requires insurers to pay out-of-network labs whatever “cash price” they list online for COVID-19 tests without imposing any limits on those prices. The expectation was that private health insurers and testing companies would negotiate COVID-19 test reimbursement rates in good faith. However, the law also provides that insurance companies were responsible to pay whatever cash price the testing provider lists online, in the event […]