Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Dot gov

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

HTTPS

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (LockA locked padlock) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

HHS.gov
  • About HHS
  • Programs & Services
  • Grants & Contracts
  • Laws & Regulations

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. About
  3. News
  4. HHS Announces Initiative to Help Uninsured and Underinsured Americans Access COVID-19 Monoclonal Antibody Treatment
  • News
  • Blog
  • HHS Live
  • Podcasts
  • Media Guidelines for HHS Employees
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 23, 2022
Contact: HHS Press Office
202-690-6343
media@hhs.gov

HHS Announces Initiative to Help Uninsured and Underinsured Americans Access COVID-19 Monoclonal Antibody Treatment

Efforts will help smooth transition of outpatient treatment bebtelovimab to commercial marketplace

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced a new effort to help uninsured and underinsured Americans access the COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatment bebtelovimab even after the product became available on the commercial market last month.

Bebtelovimab received FDA emergency use authorization in February 2022. Since then, the U.S. government has purchased more than 750,000 doses of the product. Throughout the pandemic, bebtelovimab, along with other COVID-19 therapeutics, have been provided to states and territories for free. While the federal government has always expected that bebtelovimab and other COVID-19 therapeutics would ultimately transition to the commercial market, the timeline to make the transition for bebtelovimab has accelerated without additional funding from Congress. As a result, the federal procurement and distribution of bebtelovimab began to phase out and the product became available on the commercial market on August 17.

HHS is making 60,000 doses of the product available to support the bebtelovimab product replacement initiative. Through this new initiative, which is effective immediately, health care providers who use a commercially procured dose of bebtelovimab to treat an uninsured or underinsured patient may be eligible to have the dose replaced for free by HHS. Health care providers can use their own established methods for determining uninsured or underinsured status, such as eligibility criteria for existing programs for which a patient may already be eligible. At the current rate of use, the additional doses purchased for this initiative are expected to be available through September 2023.

Approximately 8% of Americans are not covered by a government insurance program such as Medicare or Medicaid or by private insurance. The Medicare and Medicaid programs fully cover all costs for bebtelovimab treatment, and the therapeutic is likely to be covered under most private health insurance plans.

Bebtelovimab is available under emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a treatment product to reduce hospitalization and death among patients who have a positive COVID-19 test and are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19 and for whom alternative COVID-19 treatment options approved or authorized by the FDA are not accessible or clinically appropriate.

###
Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other news materials are available at https://www.hhs.gov/news.
Like HHS on Facebook, follow HHS on Twitter @HHSgov, and sign up for HHS Email Updates.
Last revised: September 23, 2022

Sign Up for Email Updates

Receive the latest updates from the Secretary, Blogs, and News Releases

Sign Up

Subscribe to RSS

Receive latest updates

Subscribe to our RSS

Related News Releases

  • Readout of HHS Secretary Becerra’s Meeting with National Public Health Leaders on Vaccines for COVID, flu and RSV

  • Letter to COVID-19 therapeutics manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies and the health care payer community.

  • Project NextGen Selects Initial Vaccine Candidates and Awards Over $500 Million to Advance Development of Vaccines and Therapeutics

Related Blog Posts

  • HHS Blog thumbnail

    Driving Long COVID Innovation with Health+ Human-Centered Design

  • Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs Loyce Pace

    U.S. Summary of the 75th World Health Assembly

  • HHS Blog thumbnail

    Working Day or Night, NDMS Teams Deploy to Support Healthcare Facilities and Save Lives in Communities Overwhelmed by COVID-19: “We are NDMS…That’s What We do”

Media Inquiries

For general media inquiries, please contact media@hhs.gov.

Content created by Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA)
Content last reviewed September 23, 2022
Back to top
  • Contact HHS
  • Careers
  • HHS FAQs
  • Nondiscrimination Notice
  • HHS Archive
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy Policy
  • Viewers & Players
  • Budget/Performance
  • Inspector General
  • Web Site Disclaimers
  • EEO/No Fear Act
  • FOIA
  • The White House
  • USA.gov
  • Vulnerability Disclosure Policy

Sign Up for Email Updates

Receive the latest updates from the Secretary, Blogs, and News Releases.

Sign Up
HHS Logo

HHS Headquarters

200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
Toll Free Call Center: 1-877-696-6775​