On June 28, 2022, the county health department said it would change how it gave COVID-19 PCR tests, starting July 1, 2022. The department said federal money for the tests was running out.
What changed on July 1, 2022
- The health department started to bill insurance companies for COVID-19 PCR tests.
- Testing was by appointment only.
- Patients could still ask for free at-home test kits.
Many testing sites in West Virginia had moved to billing private insurance about a month before. The health department had kept free PCR testing for a few more weeks. Its health officer said free testing was “not sustainable without additional funding at the federal level.”
In 2020 and 2021, the health department had given free COVID-19 tests at many drive-up events. See more than 18,000 tests at 58 drive-up events and the health department office.
This information is from June 2022. It is kept here as a record and is not current advice.