eMed review and reimbursement through insurance

I’ve been using eMed, a telemedicine service utilizing the Abbott BINAXNow COVID-19 rapid antigen test kit (which is NOT a molecular NAAT/PCR test), several times over 4 months now to fulfill the 1 day COVID test requirement on international flights to the US. This kit is officially accepted by the CDC for travel to the United States, and as of Dec 6, 2021, a COVID-19 test (molecular or antigen like this one) is required within 1 calendar day of flight departure to the US. Previously, they accepted a test within 72 hours of departure.

I also used it once for a flight from Austria to Italy (eMed doesn’t vouch for its tests to be used to enter other countries, but some googling online said it was accepted for entry into Italy), but nobody checked for our tests at any point so it ended up being a waste.

Over the past 4 months, eMed has changed slightly, so I won’t share detailed screenshots of the process since it would likely get outdated quickly.

Here’s the basic gist, along with some details from frequently asked questions friends have asked me:

1. Go to emed.com and order the test kits. To do so, there’s a Jotform (Google Forms clone) that asks for the names of the test takers. If filing for insurance reimbursement later, you’ll need to put in the names of all the people who plan to file. Otherwise, it’s ok to just put one name and share the test kits with other people even if you did not put their name down.
2. The kits ship by Fedex overnight. Once you receive them, you may open up the cardboard box that it shipped in, but DO NOT OPEN THE TEST KITS THEMSELVES. There will be 6 test kits and each has a red banner saying DO NOT OPEN. DO NOT OPEN THE TEST KITS.
3. Make a Navica account for every person who will be testing during the trip. eMed says you should do this in the USA prior to your trip. Not sure it matters, but it only takes a minute, so just do it.
4. Pack at least 2 kits per person in your suitcase. This is important in case of: 1) if you test positive, you’d retake the test and hope the first one was a false positive, 2) the reagent solution being dried up (not the end of the world as you can also use the leftover reagent from your travel companions’ box), or 3) you have a bad connection and get dropped from the telemedicine visit after you already opened the box in their presence. This actually happened to my travel companion and she had to open another box once she got reconnected.
5. On the calendar day before your return flight to the USA, ensure your laptop or phone is plugged in or charged and that your wifi is working well and sit at a desk or other location with a flat surface with your unopened kit. Make sure you’re in a quiet place away from other travel companions who may also be testing simultaneously.
6. Go to emed.com again and click “Start Testing” or click here and follow the test prompts. They’ll instruct you to test your sound, video, etc prior to connecting you with a live eMed Certified Guide.
7. Your eMed Guide will connect with you. You will be on video, but you will not be able to see the Guide – they are only going to be on audio. They’ll verify your name, date of birth, have you hold up your ID (passport) to the camera, and also have you hold up your test kit QR code to the camera.
8. The Guide will walk you through the entire process, while the screen will also show illustrations to reinforce what you’re supposed to do (open up the package, open the test card flat, drop 6 drops of reagent onto the card, open the swab and swab each nostril, put it in the card and turn it 3 times, close the card, etc). They’ll tell you when to angle the camera down at your test kit and when to angle it up at your face to prove you’re taking the test.
9. At the end of the test, they will put a timer on the screen for 15 minutes while the camera is pointing down towards your test kit on a flat surface. You can leave your laptop/phone at this point and do other things.
10. At the end of 15 minutes, there will be an audible alarm and you come back to your test kit. A different eMed Guide will get on the audio and walk you through interpreting the results after scanning the QR code on the test card to make sure you didn’t swap it out or something. After that, they will send the results to your Navica account/app and also send an email. You will get 2 reports – one is an official PDF report with all the information needed by the airline to verify your test results. The other one is in the app and contains a verifiable QR code. You can ask the hotel to print the reports or just show it from your phone when you check-in for your flight.

Filing for Insurance Reimbursement

Some insurances will reimburse for COVID-19 tests taken outside of its network. For example, I have Kaiser, and they will reimburse for any COVID-19 tests taken outside of Kaiser. I’ve even had last-minute $300 tests reimbursed.

Anyways, most insurances will require not just the receipt, but also the prescription and insurance billing codes. Fortunately, eMed provides all of this in your account:

1. Log in to eMed and click on “My Account”
2. On the left menu bar, click “My Orders” and select your order number
3. Make a PDF of this page — it contains the insurance billing codes
4. Scroll all the way down to the bottom, and you’ll see “Download Prescription” and links for each person you had filled in during the survey when you ordered.
5. Download the PDF prescriptions for each person.
6. Find the portal for your insurance for making claims, fill out the claim form with the requested info and attach the PDF of the order with the insurance billing codes, the PDF prescription, as well as your test results from Navica.
7. Sit back and wait, hopefully you’ll get a check in the mail soon! (It took about a month for Kaiser)

Note: Most insurances probably will not cover the tax and shipping.

Caveat: Emirates flights requires PCR tests to the USA (will not accept any rapid antigen tests)

A friend of mine was stuck in Dubai back in late December, unable to board her flight to the US because Emirates said they required PCR tests for travel to the USA, even if the USA accepted rapid antigen tests. It actually said so on the Emirates website, but she hadn’t checked it. Incidentally, this page was updated on January 7 and January 15 but still contains the language: “Please be advised Emirates will not accept Covid‑19 antigen tests for travel to the USA on direct Emirates flights for passengers originating their journey from Dubai. Passengers joining in Athens or Milan, or transiting via Dubai, may present negative antigen tests taken at the point of departure.”

So check very carefully with your airline ahead of travel!

Hawaii

A reader pointed out that US citizen entry to Hawaii requires a PCR test within 72 hours of boarding from a specific list of providers. While this post is about international re-entry to the United States, there could be Hawaiian residents who need to go home and will need a PCR test. The eMed test is a rapid antigen test, not a molecular test, so travelers to Hawaii will need to select a testing site from one of these Trusted Testing Partners.

Note: Hawaii’s rules may be changing soon, so please check their website.

Conclusion

I’m a big fan of eMed since it’s convenient and easy to use from the comfort of your hotel room any time of day. And since my insurance reimburses for these tests, it’s even better! I haven’t had any issues with it other than my travel companion getting disconnected when she was in the process of testing with a Guide and had to open her backup kit.

There are other telemedicine kits but I think eMed is the biggest one. I recommend using eMed since they have all the documents you need for filing for insurance, plus they have the largest network of guides so you don’t need to wait too long to get connected. No appointments needed, just log in when you’re ready, any time of the day.

Safe traveling with the new normal!