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CVS Testing Change


BrianB

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This is for those who rely on CVS for their Antigen tests.

In the past, I have been very successful at getting my Antigen tests done at my local CVS. By the way…I’m in central NJ. It was easy to schedule up to two weeks in advance when the appointments opened…and then walk into the outdoor ‘pod’, get my nose swiped, and then get the results within an hour or so.

Then it changed from the pod to a full ‘Minute Clinic’ visit inside the main store. Still, scheduling was opened two weeks out.

Recently, CVS seemed to drop the Antigen tests at most locations and the only store doing it was pretty far away. I really don’t want to depend on the results of a local CVS PCR test getting back within the two-day time frame, so I decided it was time to change over to the at-home eMed tests…or search for other nearby localities.

But now…because I kept checking the CVS website…I see that there is a new option for a test. Where before it just had a choice between an Antigen or a PCR test, now there is an option for a ‘Minute Clinic Antigen Test Visit’. Clicking on that opened up my local stores three days in advance and I’m back to getting it done at my regular spot.

Just putting it out there in case anyone else had the same disappointment with CVS dropping their available Antigen testing.
 

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3 hours ago, melmar02 said:

Good to know. Are they charging for the antigen test / clinic visit?

I would think they are because it’s now a full visit which includes vitals (blood pressure, oxygen level, pulse etc….). But I’m fortunate that my insurance covers it all. I don’t know if others would have a co-pay…depends on the insurance.

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8 hours ago, BrianB said:

This is for those who rely on CVS for their Antigen tests.

In the past, I have been very successful at getting my Antigen tests done at my local CVS. By the way…I’m in central NJ. It was easy to schedule up to two weeks in advance when the appointments opened…and then walk into the outdoor ‘pod’, get my nose swiped, and then get the results within an hour or so.

Then it changed from the pod to a full ‘Minute Clinic’ visit inside the main store. Still, scheduling was opened two weeks out.

Recently, CVS seemed to drop the Antigen tests at most locations and the only store doing it was pretty far away. I really don’t want to depend on the results of a local CVS PCR test getting back within the two-day time frame, so I decided it was time to change over to the at-home eMed tests…or search for other nearby localities.

But now…because I kept checking the CVS website…I see that there is a new option for a test. Where before it just had a choice between an Antigen or a PCR test, now there is an option for a ‘Minute Clinic Antigen Test Visit’. Clicking on that opened up my local stores three days in advance and I’m back to getting it done at my regular spot.

Just putting it out there in case anyone else had the same disappointment with CVS dropping their available Antigen testing.
 

Thanks BrianB. I have had issues with CVS antigen test availability in Central Florida so I have been using Walgreens NAAT test.

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8 hours ago, 1st Mate said:

If you have any of the Government issued COVID test kits that have "iHealth" on them, I'll let you know if Royal accepts them on May 13th.  

I like the convenience and privacy of doing it at home, proctored of course.

I have the same test scheduled for the same day.  They should accept them.  If they don't, do they offer tests done at the port?

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On 4/28/2022 at 9:53 AM, melmar02 said:

Good to know. Are they charging for the antigen test / clinic visit?

Our son's family had Minute Clinic antigen test appointments at CVS today.  They were told upon arrival that the charge would be $130 since they don't have traditional insurance.  My son informed them that if there is a charge then they would have to leave. A supervisor was called and they were told that there have been many changes day by day in the government programs recently.  CVS provided many free tests recently that were not reimbursed by the government.  My son and family were ultimately allowed to test for free today, but it sounds like government reimbursed free tests are going away by mid-May.

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3 hours ago, Galveston Steve said:

Our son's family had Minute Clinic antigen test appointments at CVS today.  They were told upon arrival that the charge would be $130 since they don't have insurance.  My son informed them that if there is a charge then they would have to leave. A supervisor was called and they were told that there have been many changes day by day in the government programs recently.  CVS provided many free tests recently that were not reimbursed by the government.  My son and family were ultimately allowed to test for free today, but it sounds like government reimbursed free tests are going away by mid-May.

Every time I hear of a "cut in service" regarding CVS I purchase another 6 pack from Emed! LOL  
I am sure that the testing will go away and I have have 20 or more kits on hand . (yes, I do have a number of cruises coming up, some family, some solos)

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If this is the case, Royal Caribbean and the CDC are going to have to seriously reconsider the testing procedures. If people can't get tested two days before at any pharmacy, then the only option is the eMed tests which are pretty expensive and not full reimbursed by most insurance.

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15 hours ago, Galveston Steve said:

Our son's family had Minute Clinic antigen test appointments at CVS today.  They were told upon arrival that the charge would be $130 since they don't have insurance.  My son informed them that if there is a charge then they would have to leave. A supervisor was called and they were told that there have been many changes day by day in the government programs recently.  CVS provided many free tests recently that were not reimbursed by the government.  My son and family were ultimately allowed to test for free today, but it sounds like government reimbursed free tests are going away by mid-May.

I think I would be more concerned about the lack of insurance than the cost of the test.  If one of them gets sick on board or at a port, that’s a huge bill with no insurance reimbursement!!

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27 minutes ago, Pooch said:

I think I would be more concerned about the lack of insurance than the cost of the test.  If one of them gets sick on board it at a port, that’s a huge bill with no insurance reimbursement!!

We all have travel insurance and catastrophic health insurance coverage (at a fraction of the cost of traditional insurance). Our risks are hedged. 

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9 hours ago, Lexster said:

If this is the case, Royal Caribbean and the CDC are going to have to seriously reconsider the testing procedures. If people can't get tested two days before at any pharmacy, then the only option is the eMed tests which are pretty expensive and not full reimbursed by most insurance.

Not really as travel is a leisure expense, so not having free testing for cruises/travel isn't up to the government. Those free testing perks were for people who needed to be tested to go back to work. 

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Paying $139 to test for my family of 6 is out of the question.  Paying $25 per person is a lot more reasonable . I just saw another post on my sailing for tomorrow that when they opened their test kit it had an empty drops.  I thought this issue was resolved. Read on another post, maybe this group? Of someone who opened their kit and no swab.   So unless we all purchase and carry extras for testing needed while traveling we are screwed and scrambling when  things go south.  Or, it would be nice if we can open snd check the kits to ensure they contain what’s promised. 

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12 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

Not really as travel is a leisure expense, so not having free testing for cruises/travel isn't up to the government. Those free testing perks were for people who needed to be tested to go back to work. 

It's not about it being free. It's $150 for 6 tests and these tests have the potential to be damaged or duds, which means using another. If you've got a family of 4, then you almost need to spend $300 to make sure you have enough. All I'm saying is they need to push the testing out. Many pharmacies are not doing rapid testing anymore which means you risk not having your results back in time if you do the lab test. If they'd let you get tested even 4 days out, that would give time for results to get back most of the time.

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We have used these test kits since August last year on a monthly basis and have yet to find a dud, especially on the latest orders which have newly manufactured kits. There is always the potential for a inconclusive test, as happened to my wife at with clinic administered test, but we have found these kits to be easy and stress free to use. We stopped using the clinic testing as we felt that our trips were for pleasure and early on were not going to take away a local test time for someone who needed it. Even though testing is now easier, we still use the proctored tests and include it as a part of our vacation cost.

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8 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

Paying $139 to test for my family of 6 is out of the question.

This is not a given - if you have insurance then it is free !!!

It seems like many posters don't mention this - not sure if by mistake or on purpose...

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@BrianB  Thanks for this post.  Here in MA I see a new CVS option for "Rapid test with provider visit".  From what I am seeing today, this test can only be scheduled 3 days in advance like you say.  So in theory, for my May 12th Adventure cruise, I would have the ability to sign up for this test on May 10th which is the first day RCCL would accept a test for my cruise.  My only worry is what if this option goes away before then (10 days from today)?  I am thinking about signing up for a CVS PCR test for the 10th today and then cancelling it on the morning of the 10th if the Rapid test with visit is available.  Are you at all worried about this sort of issue?  NOTE:  Since our cruise stops in Bermuda and we have to deal with sending them the results too (on the 11th per instructions), I was hoping to get the Rapid test instead of the PCR test specifically for that reason.  Otherwise, PCR would be fine.  We did the CVS PCR test on our April 3rd Anthem sailing with no problem.

Also, for those wondering, this test appears to be free with insurance.  Can anyone who has taken this test confirm?

In the past I have taken both the CVS PCR and CVS Antigen tests and can confirm that both were free with insurance!

image.thumb.png.b31e03d363bf7600523a1751bd972d02.png

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Also, one more note about the CVS "Rapid test" option in my MA area (can be seen in my picture above) - there are NONE available to me from today (May 1st) through 14days out (the farthest out you can schedule w/ CVS).  So that is a NO GO for me...

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1 hour ago, Scooter6251 said:

You should get your tests done where all the thousands of domestic airline passengers get theirs.  Oh wait, airline passengers don't have to be tested.  Do they have to show proof of vaccinations?  Nope.  Strange, isn't it.

There is no “roll your eyes” reaction button so I’ll use my own. 🙄🙄🙄

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2 hours ago, Lexster said:

t's not about it being free. It's $150 for 6 tests and these tests have the potential to be damaged or duds, which means using another. If you've got a family of 4, then you almost need to spend $300 to make sure you have enough.

Disagree. If you have a family of 4, a 6 pack is all you need. The likelihood of everyone needing back ups is quite low. 

I've ordered dozens of Abbot tests now and never ran into one dud. Even those that have experienced a problem with one kit have reported it just being one kit, not an entire shipment.

So I think having extras is absolutely a good idea, but the 6-pack for a family of 4 is adequate.

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9 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

Paying $139 to test for my family of 6 is out of the question.

For me, the convenience of the at-home tests is well worth the cost. Trying to find a test at a pharmacy is a pain, and then taking the time to drive to the place, take the test, and then back home is much more time consuming than it may sound. 

Being able to take the test at home whenever is convenient for me has proven to be a valuable benefit. 

Given the fact some insurance reimburse tests, it makes the value proposition worthwhile in my opinion. Basically, this is one of those your time is worth something to you kind of situations.

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23 hours ago, YOLO said:

@BrianB  Thanks for this post.  Here in MA I see a new CVS option for "Rapid test with provider visit".  From what I am seeing today, this test can only be scheduled 3 days in advance like you say.  So in theory, for my May 12th Adventure cruise, I would have the ability to sign up for this test on May 10th which is the first day RCCL would accept a test for my cruise.  My only worry is what if this option goes away before then (10 days from today)?  I am thinking about signing up for a CVS PCR test for the 10th today and then cancelling it on the morning of the 10th if the Rapid test with visit is available.  Are you at all worried about this sort of issue?  NOTE:  Since our cruise stops in Bermuda and we have to deal with sending them the results too (on the 11th per instructions), I was hoping to get the Rapid test instead of the PCR test specifically for that reason.  Otherwise, PCR would be fine.  We did the CVS PCR test on our April 3rd Anthem sailing with no problem.

Also, for those wondering, this test appears to be free with insurance.  Can anyone who has taken this test confirm?

In the past I have taken both the CVS PCR and CVS Antigen tests and can confirm that both were free with insurance!

image.thumb.png.b31e03d363bf7600523a1751bd972d02.png

The tests I have taken from CVS which included the Minute Clinic visit have all been covered by my insurance. But I have very good coverage…I don’t know if other insurance companies charge a co-pay or something else. Or even if the additional cost would be covered elsewhere, like a government program of some sort, if there were any charge at all.

I also have to test for a Bermuda trip soon and worry about getting the test results early enough to make sure there is no hiccup getting them emailed to Bermuda Health. I’m sure they get thousands of test results on the same day and don’t want to take any chances. So, I also have the eMed tests available if needed. Always more than one just in case there’s an issue with any of them…better safe than sorry.

Also, I did schedule a CVS PCR test as soon as they opened up the available dates. I like to cover all the bases. When I saw the Minute Clinic Antigen test open up three days out, I decided to take it. In order for me to schedule that, I had to first cancel the PCR test. That was easy…just went to the confirmation email and clicked on the ‘cancel visit’ button. Then clicked on the ‘found a better time’ button.

Lots of hoops to jump through…but the reward is wonderful!

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6 hours ago, BrianB said:

Also, I did schedule a CVS PCR test as soon as they opened up the available dates. I like to cover all the bases. When I saw the Minute Clinic Antigen test open up three days out, I decided to take it. In order for me to schedule that, I had to first cancel the PCR test. That was easy…just went to the confirmation email and clicked on the ‘cancel visit’ button. Then clicked on the ‘found a better time’ button.

@BrianB  Thank You !!!  This is exactly what I wanted to know.  We are thinking of following this exact plan.

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7 hours ago, BrianB said:

The tests I have taken from CVS which included the Minute Clinic visit have all been covered by my insurance. But I have very good coverage…I don’t know if other insurance companies charge a co-pay or something else. Or even if the additional cost would be covered elsewhere, like a government program of some sort, if there were any charge at all.

I also have to test for a Bermuda trip soon and worry about getting the test results early enough to make sure there is no hiccup getting them emailed to Bermuda Health. I’m sure they get thousands of test results on the same day and don’t want to take any chances. So, I also have the eMed tests available if needed. Always more than one just in case there’s an issue with any of them…better safe than sorry.

Thanks for the insurance coverage information.  To date my insurance has always fully covered CVS tests/vaccines.

Yes, Bermuda has me concerned.  Because of the timing requirements, I thought about taking two tests - the first one for Bermuda and the second for Royal.  But am trying to avoid this...

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@billnj  Welcome to the Royal Caribbean Blog Forum !!!

We just cancelled a CVS PCR test for tomorrow and re-scheduled a "Rapid test with provider visit" also for tomorrow.  We are very aware of the many text messages they send to confirm the visit.  Did you get these?  We have never have any problems with CVS.  We are in MA.  Are you in NJ?  That is where @BrianB is, so maybe he can comment on this.

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JMO,  but since the restart of cruising and testing to board, it seam most of the problems I have read about, ie cancelled test last minute, show up testing closed, etc has been at CVS stores.

Personally I try to have 120 to 150% of the required emed kits avalible for each cruise, if I need newer one they are ordered about 30 days out.  I find the ~$30 per person cost much cheaper than enduring any stress and just consider it part of the cost of cruising just like taxi from airport to cruise ship

I also have never had a defective kit yet.

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