U.S. health insurers may balk at covering tests that look for coronavirus antibodies in some cases, arguing that employers or the government should foot a bill expected to run into billions of dollars, Reuters reported. Health insurers have largely escaped the economic pain wrought by the pandemic. Their profits increased as many Americans delayed more routine and expensive medical care during the recent lockdown period, while the total cost of covering Covid-19 patients has been less than expected in many regions with low case numbers. Now the industry is tallying up the potential cost of expanding both diagnostic and antibody testing, seen as a critically important component of safely reopening businesses across the country. Diagnostic tests determine if someone is currently infected and contagious, while the antibody, or serology, tests show whether someone was previously infected and possibly immune. Wall Street firm Jefferies & Co estimates a need for hundreds of millions of antibody tests in the next 18 months, accounting for about one-quarter of an anticipated $15 billion in U.S. Covid-19 test spending through the end of 2021.
