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Medicare will cover monoclonal antibody infusions to treat COVID-19 with no cost-sharing for beneficiaries during the public health emergency, CMS said Tuesday. The move came a day after the Food and Drug Administration allowed emergency use of Eli Lilly's bamlanivimab, an antibody that helps the immune system fight the virus. CMS expects Eli Lilly will give away bamlanivimab to providers early on. Medicare won't pay for antibody products that providers get for free, but it will pay providers to administer them. (Brady, 11/11)

Medicare's expanded coverage of monoclonal antibody infusions includes bamlanivimab, which got an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday. "Today, CMS is announcing a historic, first-of-its kind policy that drastically expands access to COVID-19 monoclonal antibodies to beneficiaries without cost sharing," CMS Administrator Seema Verma said. (Commins, 11/11)

The federal government’s decision to allow Medicare coverage of monoclonal antibody therapy for COVID-19 treatments could be extremely helpful for nursing homes care for symptomatic, positive residents, according to a top expert.  ... “Nursing home residents, just by their very nature, are the types of people who will benefit from this. They’re at high-risk for bad outcomes and hospitalization. It seems like a good fit,” Karl Steinberg, M.D., president-elect of AMDA — The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. (Brown, 11/12)