Pennsylvania State Capitol. Photo: Zack Frank/Shutterstock.com

Gov. Tom Wolf on March 11 banned international travel and curtailed out-of-state travel for state officials and acted to restrict large in-person gatherings for public business.

In consultation with the Department of Health, Wolf provided direction on travel and large gatherings for commonwealth agencies and employees under the governor's jurisdiction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We are taking this action in the best interest of all commonwealth employees as we continue to respond swiftly and appropriately to the outbreak of COVID-19," Wolf said. "Many state employees are working on the front lines with federal and local partners to coordinate efforts. I thank you for your commitment."

The new directives for commonwealth employees take effect immediately and are consistent with the governor's emergency disaster declaration and based on the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations, according to a Wolf administration statement.

Wolf also said that persons under quarantine or self-quarantine because of possible exposure to the virus could be authorized to work from home.

Wolf also announced March 11 that Pennsylvania's Medicaid program, Medical Assistance and Children's Health Insurance Program will cover testing and treatment for COVID-19, the disease associated with the novel coronavirus.

The Wolf administration statement said it is also lifting some prior authorization requirements to ease access to necessary testing and treatment.

There are no MA or CHIP copayments for laboratory tests for COVID-19. For those services that do have copayments, MA providers may not deny services if a beneficiary is unable to pay the copayment.

"We are prepared to mitigate COVID-19 throughout the commonwealth, and part of this mitigation includes ensuring that anyone who needs to be tested for COVID-19 can access the test," Wolf said. "No Pennsylvanian should forego testing for any reason, if deemed medically necessary, including fear of what it might cost."

The MA and CHIP programs will pay for COVID-19 testing when a health care practitioner determines it is needed, and prior authorization is not required.

On March 9, Wolf announced that all major health insurers providing comprehensive medical coverage in Pennsylvania have agreed to cover medically appropriate COVID-19 diagnostic testing and associated treatment for consumers and have committed to waive any cost-sharing for the testing.

"Pennsylvania insurers proactively waiving costs associated with COVID-19 testing for consumers helps the commonwealth identify additional cases and gives us a better opportunity to increase our resources appropriately and better protect all Pennsylvanians," Wolf said. "No Pennsylvanian should forego testing for any reason, if deemed medically necessary, including fear of what it might cost."

Pennsylvania's major health insurers, all of whom have committed to take this step, are Highmark, UPMC Health Plan, Geisinger, Independence BlueCross, Capital Blue Cross, Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, Pennsylvania Health & Wellness, and Oscar. This increased access to testing is especially critical as multiple commercial medical labs are in the process of implementing testing capabilities and some have begun to perform tests.

According to a Wolf administration statement, labs will begin billing insurance for the COVID-19 test as they would for any other diagnostic test. Up until now, testing has only been performed by the CDC or state labs, which have covered the cost of testing with public funds.