Are you willing to get the Covid vaccine when offered?
Federal officials promised the
new covid shotwould be free and covered by insurance, but some Americans have encountered a different reality this week as they tried to get vaccinated, only to be denied coverage or charged up to $200.
They have faced myriad complications, from pharmacies being out of network, to the vaccine not showing up on lists of approved medical expenses, to needing prior authorization. Some Americans paid out of pocket to avoid waiting. Others say they weren’t even given that option.
The hiccups reflect a new reality for covid vaccines as they go from being treated as a public good to a
commercial product. Now that the federal government is no longer buying and distributing all the shots, Americans must endure the usual headaches of dealing with insurance companies and a for-profit health care system.
“Last year there was one player — the federal government,” Mandy Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an interview. “And now there’s a lot more players and … they’re not accountable to us.”
Cohen said most issues should be resolved within days, but that’s little comfort to Americans trying to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
Eric Allix Rogers forked over the $155.99 for the updated vaccine even though his Chicago pharmacy called ahead of his Monday appointment offering to reschedule because an insurance check showed the shot wasn’t covered by his Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois HMO plan.
He had a bad case of covid in 2021 before he could get vaccinated and does not want to risk another infection when he travels to Minneapolis next week for a large work event.
“We are being told we have to transition to treating covid as a routine matter and yet the people responsible for medical care have not figured out how to treat it as a routine matter,” said Rogers, 38. “This shouldn’t have been complicated.”……..
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/09/22/covid-vaccine-insurance-coverage-denials/