My BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag HOME TEST Experience

[chamorroroots]

8 minutes ago, VaTech8912 said:

Thanks much....I did mean to say January 2022....but this does answer my question.  Last question, did you get the 6 pack and if yes, did you need to have an RX for it (I think that is what I saw on the Binax website).  Appreciate the information, have a great cruise.

At eMed.com we don't have a choice. That's how the sell it - in six-packs. When you purchase with eMed, one of their healthcare professionals approve the purchase, and once it is approved they will ship it. Their website indicates that they will issue an Rx once after they approve it. Also, after they approve it there will be a link to download the prescription on your electronic order status/invoice. But the download link at this time does not work. I reported it two days ago and have a case number. They still have not fixed that issue. But yes, technically per the FDA EUA for this particular kit it requires a prescription. As I was researching this the other day, I found five different FDA EUA's for the BinaxNOW cards. Some require the prescription and other cards do not. So I recommended to people to be cognizant of this.

[KyloRen]

 

 

I'm in the very first cruise from Long Beach from To Mexico in Sept. I'd love to know if this works by then!

Edited August 13, 2021 by KyloRen

[chamorroroots]

2 minutes ago, KyloRen said:

 

 

I'm in the very first cruise from Long Beach from To Mexico in Sept. I'd love to know if this works by then!

My embarkation is also out of Long Beach to Ensenada, Mexico but not until October. This will be our first cruising experience so I am trying to mitigate whatever I can from this event flopping on us.

 

[KyloRen]

7 minutes ago, chamorroroots said:

My embarkation is also out of Long Beach to Ensenada, Mexico but not until October. This will be our first cruising experience so I am trying to mitigate whatever I can from this event flopping on us.

 

 

Yeah ditto! Im on that first Sept 27th sailing (mon-fri) ill keep watching this board. I've got another booked for Dec and Jan and that would be great to mitigate time  and cost to be able to do it this way! 🙂

Edited August 13, 2021 by KyloRen

[nina_930]

I just watched the video and I love all the warnings that doing xyz may cause a false negative.  How many people will try to get away with not doing it correctly to get the negative result just to cruise?  I agree this is great, but worry about the dishonest people out there who only want to get the neg result and not a reliable result.

[Gregoryfo]

9 hours ago, chamorroroots said:

Ok folks, by request, I called and just spoke with Mariana, eMed Customer Support. She said that another six-pack of kits will need to be purchased beyond three people. The reason why they limit to three people is because they plan for two test kits per person in case the first one is inconclusive.

I got a very different response from a CSR at eMed who said the packs are sold so that each person can have two tests in case one is inconclusive or if you need testing to leave and then reenter (if you are flying somewhere), but he assured me that each test can be used by anyone.  He said and I quote, "you pay for six tests and six monitor sessions, it does not matter to us if one person does it six times or six people do it one time."  He did mention that if you were going to attempt insurance reimbursement you should not give the tests to anyone else.  

[chamorroroots]

41 minutes ago, Gregoryfo said:

I got a very different response from a CSR at eMed who said the packs are sold so that each person can have two tests in case one is inconclusive or if you need testing to leave and then reenter (if you are flying somewhere), but he assured me that each test can be used by anyone.  He said and I quote, "you pay for six tests and six monitor sessions, it does not matter to us if one person does it six times or six people do it one time."  He did mention that if you were going to attempt insurance reimbursement you should not give the tests to anyone else.  

Poor internal controls may get them in trouble with the FDA and make it more difficult for others. I have read and reviewed five FDA EUA’s for each respective BinaxNOW model/nomenclature. Some models require the prescription and some don’t.  Mine do, which is why I am insistent with eMed to make a copy of the prescription available to me.
 

I am also retired military and have Tricare insurance. They do not cover the testing cost for “pleasure or leisure travel.” I have also heard that some other insurance carriers do not cover the cost for that purpose as well. I think people need to be careful with those companies that say the test is free and ask you for your insurance information, because if the insurance denies the claim….it’s going to be a stressful battle.
 

On the other hand, my HSA does cover costs for these tests.

Edited August 14, 2021 by chamorroroots

[chamorroroots]

1 hour ago, nina_930 said:

I just watched the video and I love all the warnings that doing xyz may cause a false negative.  How many people will try to get away with not doing it correctly to get the negative result just to cruise?  I agree this is great, but worry about the dishonest people out there who only want to get the neg result and not a reliable result.

🙏🏼

[mthomp5]

Thank you for sharing your experience and making the video.  It was very informative.  Having never had to do this, the video really helped me to understand what the steps were.  Seems pretty easy.  In my area, it is difficult to find a rapid COVID test as well.  So, this is a great option.

 

[chamorroroots]

8 hours ago, mthomp5 said:

Thank you for sharing your experience and making the video.  It was very informative.  Having never had to do this, the video really helped me to understand what the steps were.  Seems pretty easy.  In my area, it is difficult to find a rapid COVID test as well.  So, this is a great option.

 

 

Thanks you for your feedback. Indeed, very difficult in the PNW to even get an appointment beyond one week out and our cruise is not until October.  I previously read comments about this test on other threads but they were just not thorough enough to satisfy my curiosity. So I took the leap of faith here and wanted to share my experiences so that others, like you, will have something more in detail to evaluate and make a determination whether or not to pursue. 

[madera cruiser]

10 hours ago, Gregoryfo said:

I got a very different response from a CSR at eMed who said the packs are sold so that each person can have two tests in case one is inconclusive or if you need testing to leave and then reenter (if you are flying somewhere), but he assured me that each test can be used by anyone.  He said and I quote, "you pay for six tests and six monitor sessions, it does not matter to us if one person does it six times or six people do it one time."  He did mention that if you were going to attempt insurance reimbursement you should not give the tests to anyone else.  

I called for verification on using the six pack of tests for multiple people. Both times I was assured that the six pack of tests can be used for multiple people. Each adult needs to have an E-Med account and Navica App. On the Navica App, you can add Elders and children to your acount.

Hope this helps.

 

Edited August 14, 2021 by madera cruiser

[chamorroroots]

5 minutes ago, madera cruiser said:

I called for verification on using the six pack of tests for multiple people. Both times I was assured that the six pack of tests can be used for multiple people. Each adult needs to have an E-Med account and Navica App. On the Navica App, you can add Elders and children to your acount.

Hope this helps.

 

 

Thanks for adding your experience to this discussion with eMed CSR. It’s important for us to scrutinize any consistent or inconsistent responses from their company.

[chamorroroots]

I’m hoping that someone from one of the Carnival ships for today’s sailing, August 14, 2021, who has taken the BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag HOME Test will provide us some feedback with their experience using this test result to clear for boarding.

Edited August 14, 2021 by chamorroroots

[BoozinCroozin]

Thanks for sharing. Very thorough and useful to those of us cruising this year.

[sc4125]

Okay so I'm assuming that this is the same test that you can purchase at CVS for just one person for $23.99?  And also that it is not necessary to take the 2nd test if the first test is negative? 

 

Not sure what is happening but I'm sailing on the 28th and the CVS with Minute Clinic near my home is now showing "no appointments available" for rapid result tests over the next 2 weeks.  They had plenty of appointments available last week, so not sure what happened - looks like at home test is the only way I can get a rapid test 3 days before the cruise.  I just want to make sure I don't have to take 2 of these tests with at least 36 hours between the 2.

 

Thanks for the video by the way - very helpful.  

[LadyMac72]

Does anyone know if this test will allow me to go into Canada on our Alaska cruise?  

[pnwredhead]

2 hours ago, sc4125 said:

Okay so I'm assuming that this is the same test that you can purchase at CVS for just one person for $23.99?  And also that it is not necessary to take the 2nd test if the first test is negative? 

 

Not sure what is happening but I'm sailing on the 28th and the CVS with Minute Clinic near my home is now showing "no appointments available" for rapid result tests over the next 2 weeks.  They had plenty of appointments available last week, so not sure what happened - looks like at home test is the only way I can get a rapid test 3 days before the cruise.  I just want to make sure I don't have to take 2 of these tests with at least 36 hours between the 2.

 

Thanks for the video by the way - very helpful.  

This is a different test from the same company.

The self test has 2 tests in it and is not proctored. The home test is a single test and you have to do it online with someone at eMed for it to register your results.

The self test will not satisfy all of the requirements that Carnival has in place.  The eMed website has more information on the difference. 

This pic is from their site. 

[Homosassa]

2 hours ago, sc4125 said:

 

 

Not sure what is happening but I'm sailing on the 28th and the CVS with Minute Clinic near my home is now showing "no appointments available" for rapid result tests over the next 2 weeks.  They had plenty of appointments available last week, so not sure what happened - looks like at home test is the only way I can get a rapid test 3 days before the cruise.  I just want to make sure I don't have to take 2 of these tests with at least 36 hours between the 2.

 

 

LOL - You live in Florida and have no idea what happened to cause test appointments to disappear?

 

I think the rest of the country, if not other parts of the world, could answer the question about why test demand in Florida has skyrocketed.

[sc4125]

55 minutes ago, pnwredhead said:

This is a different test from the same company.

The self test has 2 tests in it and is not proctored. The home test is a single test and you have to do it online with someone at eMed for it to register your results.

The self test will not satisfy all of the requirements that Carnival has in place.  The eMed website has more information on the difference. 

This pic is from their site. 

Thanks - I did go to their website and got the information.   I've decided I'm going to order it in a few days because I don't want to risk it.  A local medical center has said that we "should" be able to get a rapid test a few days before the cruise but not really trusting them.

[sc4125]

25 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

LOL - You live in Florida and have no idea what happened to cause test appointments to disappear?

 

I think the rest of the country, if not other parts of the world, could answer the question about why test demand in Florida has skyrocketed.

I realize the demand has skyrocketed, but CVS was allowing you to schedule 2 weeks out.  You had to wait until the date you wanted was posted and could only schedule online.  I waited until 5 minutes after midnight on the day that Wednesday the 25th opened and it advised that there were no available appointments.  They were scheduling tests every 15 minutes so I found it impossible to believe that five minutes after the date was posted all of their appointments for that particular day were filled. 

 

As for the demand in Florida being higher than other states, I live in the middle of the state and would think that the areas that are being overwhelmed are those closest to cruise ports or airports.  If I lived near Miami, they have open appointments at several CVS and Walgreens open.

 

[Shayhooper]

For those not wanting to buy 6 tests, this site has 2 and 3 test packs. 
 

https://store.optum.com/shop/category/tests-and-devices/covid-19-home-tests/

 

[chamorroroots]

5 hours ago, sc4125 said:

Okay so I'm assuming that this is the same test that you can purchase at CVS for just one person for $23.99?  And also that it is not necessary to take the 2nd test if the first test is negative? 

 

Not sure what is happening but I'm sailing on the 28th and the CVS with Minute Clinic near my home is now showing "no appointments available" for rapid result tests over the next 2 weeks.  They had plenty of appointments available last week, so not sure what happened - looks like at home test is the only way I can get a rapid test 3 days before the cruise.  I just want to make sure I don't have to take 2 of these tests with at least 36 hours between the 2.

 

Thanks for the video by the way - very helpful.  

 

I don't think that this one is the same one as the $23.99. There is the "Self-Test" (BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Self-Test) kit, which does not link to Navica App, proctored test and digital certificate. The one I demonstrated in the video is the "Home Test" (BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Home Test) kit, which can produce all the result information requirements for Carnival's policy. The "Self-Test" does not meet that requirement.

[csm5986142]

Thanks so much for posting this info.  I'm also in the PNW and it's very difficult to get a testing appointment.  I finally got appointments for this Wednesday (we sail Saturday) at our local doctor, but the turnaround time for results is 1 - 3 days.  Because we have to fly across the country (leaving at 6 am Friday) we need to know if we all have negative results by Thursday night.

I think I have found a pharmacy locally that sells BinaxNOW (I'm going to stop by there this afternoon to be sure) so that gives me a little peace of mind, that should one of us have an issue getting results in time, maybe this could be our backup plan.

[chamorroroots]

31 minutes ago, csm5986142 said:

Thanks so much for posting this info.  I'm also in the PNW and it's very difficult to get a testing appointment.  I finally got appointments for this Wednesday (we sail Saturday) at our local doctor, but the turnaround time for results is 1 - 3 days.  Because we have to fly across the country (leaving at 6 am Friday) we need to know if we all have negative results by Thursday night.

I think I have found a pharmacy locally that sells BinaxNOW (I'm going to stop by there this afternoon to be sure) so that gives me a little peace of mind, that should one of us have an issue getting results in time, maybe this could be our backup plan.

Make sure it's the BinaxNOW Home Test and not the BinaxNOW Self Test.

[Jasalth]

I also called to see about 6 tests and multiple people! 

 

I got the answer of "Anyone who makes an account in the app can use it" I asked because I don't even know if we will use our tests, but I wanted peace of mind. I actually figured worse comes to worse, I will take our "kids" (really adults) to Mexico for a week with us in our vacation club this winter and use them then. 

 

As for testing at local stores (mainly CVS) if you see a store that has rapid tests, but no scheduling available, it means they currently don't have supplies for the rapid tests. I called our local regional hub CVS store that was doing rapid tests, and while listed on-line, they don't have any availability at all and this is the reason why. (I work for the company and know the pharmacy team there who does the drive through PCR's so..) 

 

I would honestly suggest checking every 1-2 days until you need tested to see if there are appointments available. If there are not, then they haven't gotten supplies. If you DO make an appointment with another site (I did) that DOES NOT guarantee they will have supplies 2 weeks from now as a note. For example on my side of the city, our hub store is out, but another store about 20-25 mins away IS doing them and I scheduled them there. Now come 8/26, will they have tests? Maybe? If not, I will do a PCR and hopefully get the results back by Friday. If not, we have our handy BinaxNow AG Card tests!