With federally funded distribution of the COVID-19 therapeutic bebtelovimab coming to an end, physicians must now purchase the monoclonal antibody directly from the distributor starting the week of Aug. 15, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS).
The final federal allocation through the Health Partner Order Portal (HPOP) ended Aug. 12.
The federal government “has requested that providers reserve the [federally] purchased bebtelovimab for uninsured and underinsured patients that are not able to take or access Paxlovid or Veklury, the top-recommended therapeutics,” DSHS said in a recent notice to physicians and other therapeutics providers.
“Facilities must continue to report transfers, wastage, and administration and on-hand inventory of all [government] purchased bebtelovimab in HPOP until this supply has depleted. Providers may not seek reimbursement for the bebtelovimab that was distributed at no cost from [the U.S. government] and should keep this stock separated from any product that is purchased,” DSHS cautioned.
Here are the details for ordering bebtelovimab directly from AmerisourceBergen:
As of this writing, Medicare and Medicaid payment information was still pending and will be made available on this Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services website.
DSHS noted that “remdesivir is the other alternative therapy recommended by the National Institutes of Health for the outpatient treatment of COVID-19 illness in high-risk individuals.”
For more information on outpatient therapies approved for prevention or treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19, DSHS provides this side-by-side chart.
Last Updated On
August 18, 2022
Originally Published On
August 12, 2022