What to Know About Free At-Home Covid Tests and the First Pig-to-Human Heart Transplant

Health experts see at-home Covid tests as a key tool in the fight against the pandemic. Starting Saturday, Jan. 15th people with private health insurance will be able to get reimbursed for up to 8 tests per month. The administration is also encouraging insurers to create networks of preferred stores or pharmacies so that costs can be covered up front. For those without private insurance, 500 million at-home tests will soon be available for people to request online. Despite all this action, limited supply of tests is still a concern. Annie Nova, personal finance reporter at CNBC, joins us what to know about free at-home Covid tests.

Next, the University of Maryland Medical Center has successfully transplanted a gene-edited pig heart into a man named Dave Bennett. Bennett was not cleared to be on the heart transplant waiting list and then opted for this very experimental procedure. The pig who gave his heart for this had ten specific genes edited so that the body wouldn’t reject the organ, to help prevent blood from coagulating in the heart, and to keep the pig from growing too large. Karen Weintraub, health reporter at USA Today, joins us for this medical first and what it could mean for the future.

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