Close Close
ThinkAdvisor
A medical worker preparing a COVID-19 vaccine dose for delivery.

Life Health > Health Insurance

Health Insurers Say They'll Stand Up for COVID-19 Vaccine Access

By Allison Bell

X
Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

Health insurer groups have united to say that they will offer enrollees access to the latest version of the COVID-19 vaccine without cost-sharing.

Any reports about plans charging enrollees co-payments are the result of technical problems that have been resolved as quickly as possible, the groups told Xavier Becerra, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in a public letter sent and posted on Wednesday.

The list of groups sending the letter included the Alliance of Community Health Plans, the Association for Community Affiliated Plans, America’s Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

“We recognize the critical public health importance of getting as many Americans as possible vaccinated,” the groups said.

What it means: The COVID-19 pandemic has killed 1.1 million U.S. residents since early 2020, when the outbreak first came to light. A new wave that began about three months ago has been killing about 1,000 U.S. residents per week in recent weeks, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health insurers are saying they want to do what they can to protect enrollees.

Cost-sharing: Federal law requires major medical insurance plans to cover widely supported vaccines without imposing copayments, coinsurance bills or deductibles on the enrollees.

In recent weeks, news reports have surfaced about some people facing bills when they went to drug stores, clinics or other providers to get the newly released vaccine update.

“Throughout this transition to traditional public and private reimbursement, our members prepared and have been working tirelessly to overcome systems challenges and increase access,” the health insurer groups wrote. “You have our commitment that health insurers are fully covering the new COVID-19 shots, as required, with no cost sharing when consumers access them from a network provider or receive them through an out-of-network provider when in-network options are unavailable.”

Insurers are trying to work quickly to resolve any billing problems or other technical challenges that are cropping up, the groups said.

“At this time, we understand that systemic technical issues have been largely, if not completely, resolved and are not limiting patient access to vaccines,” the groups added. “Should further issues arise, we stand ready to swiftly implement system improvements.”

Credit: Shutterstock

Allison Bell

Think_Allison

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.