Health And Human Services Secretary (HHS) Xavier Becerra met with health insurance company leaders and national stakeholders, according to a readout provided by the agency, and discussed the widely reported barriers people have been facing.
Vaccine deliveries to pharmacies have been delayed, leading to canceled appointments. According to HHS, more than 6 million vaccines have been shipped to pharmacies.
Insurers also haven’t had the updated codes to cover the costs of the shots, but the companies told Becerra on Wednesday that this issue was “largely, if not completely” resolved.
Along with these assurances, the insurers also made commitments to covering the shots with no-cost sharing as is required under the Affordable Care Act.
“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,” a coalition of health insurance stakeholders said in a letter to Becerra on Wednesday.
Most private insurance plans are required to cover the updated vaccines, which cost more than $120 without coverage. If you are out of network, you will have to pay, unless there is no in-network pharmacy with the shots available.
HHS said on Wednesday that more than 2 million people have gotten vaccinated against COVID-19 in the weeks since the shots became available, noting this to be comparable to last year’s fall campaign.
