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Yale University. George Brock Chisholm CC CBE MC ED (18 May 1896 – 4 February 1971) was a Canadian psychiatrist, medical practitioner, World War I veteran, and the first director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO). He was the 13th Canadian Surgeon General and the recipient of numerous accolades, including Order of Canada, Order of ...
The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the United States is an ongoing mass immunization campaign for the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first granted emergency use authorization to the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine on December 10, 2020, [7] and mass vaccinations began four days later.
- Overview
- Free COVID vaccine for people with insurance
- Free COVID vaccine for people without insurance
Federal health authorities are urging Americans to reach out to their insurers after reports of some people encountering trouble getting their new COVID-19 vaccine shot for free. Those issues have arisen despite programs and requirements designed to make the shots available at no out-of-pocket cost for all Americans.
The hurdles are new to this year's commercial rollout of COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer, which are now listed for more than $100 on the private market. Earlier during the pandemic, vaccines and boosters had all been paid for by the federal government.
"There have been a number of glitches with billing codes [and] shipping of vaccines," Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News medical contributor and editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News, said on "CBS Mornings" Tuesday.
Officials say this year's hiccups in coverage of the shots should be temporary, as insurers and vaccinators work to iron out issues in the systems that handle billing for the shots.
"My sense is that these are glitches that will be addressed pretty quickly, but if not, please know, first and foremost, you should not have to put money out of pocket to get the COVID vaccine," Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told reporters on Sept. 20.
Here's the latest we know about the policies that should make COVID-19 vaccines free, and how to find shots at no cost.
Under federal law, plans are required to cover COVID-19 vaccines at no cost to you through providers within your insurer's network.
If there are no vaccinators in your network who can offer the shots, insurers are required to cover the service out-of-network without cost sharing.
"If you have private insurance — whether it's private, Medicare, Medicaid — you should have your free vaccine at no cost to you. It's covered by insurance," Gounder explained. "But because of these glitches, there have been some issues. You may want to wait until early to mid-October just for these things to get ironed out. If you do get your vaccine now, you may need to resubmit or appeal a denial, but you should get it for free."
A "cheat sheet" by the nonprofit KFF, seen below, lays out some details of coverage for Americans covered by private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid.
The requirement to cover shots began immediately for the updated fall 2023 shots after they were greenlighted by the Food and Drug Administration, officials said, erasing a monthslong grace period private insurance companies typically have to implement new vaccines.
"I am writing to ask for continued partnership and also want to remind you of legal obligations for coverage of the vaccines," Becerra wrote in a letter dated Sept. 22 to health insurers, outlining details of the requirement.
Americans without insurance can find shots for free at locations in the federal "Bridge Access Program" run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Locations with shots available in the program can be found online through Vaccines.gov.
They include health centers backed by the federal government, vaccinators who get shots through their local health departments, and many retail pharmacy locations, including Walgreens and CVS.
Vaccinators in the Bridge Access Program are supposed to administer shots to uninsured Americans at no out-of-pocket cost, after asking them whether they have health insurance. Pharmacies in the program then get payment from the federal government for each dose they administer.
Patients are not supposed to need to prove that they do not have health insurance in order to get free shots from the program. However, uninsured Americans running into challenges can sometimes ask pharmacists to run their information in the system to show they have self-paid for prescriptions in the past.
"The Bridge Access Program is designed to get rid of patient barriers to COVID-19 vaccines. The burden of patient eligibility verification will be on our healthcare systems, not on patients," the CDC said in an FAQ published about the program.
- Gounder
- 2 min
- tina@cbsnews.com
Apr 7, 2023 · Even in the first half of the 20th century, smallpox deaths worldwide were estimated to be 300 million. In Canada we have another reason to celebrate when we talk about the work of the WHO. In 1948, Dr Brock Chisholm (1896–1971), a native of Ontario, a psychiatrist, a medical administrator, and director-general of the Canadian army’s ...
Liberty as “control” refers to “the extent of the control that [a person] has over decisions in certain specified spheres.” This means that one is free only to the extent that one personally exercises such control—not a bad way to describe the refusal on the basis of freedom to wear masks or get vaccinated.
Sep 27, 2024 · The 2024–25 COVID-19 vaccine is updated to better protect against variants that are currently spreading. This respiratory virus season, only one shot of the vaccine is needed for most people, and there are no boosters. (People who are immunocompromised or ages 6 months to 4 years may need more than one dose of the 2024–25 vaccine.)
Jan 27, 2021 · January 27, 2021. When Americans began receiving coronavirus vaccines last month, people started fantasizing about the first thing they’d do when the pandemic ends: go back to work, visit family ...
