Last week, as the updated Covid vaccines rolled out to pharmacies across the U.S., some people eager to get their doses were met with unexpected insurance issues — even though the shots are supposed to be covered.
On Wednesday, the Department of Health and Human Services said the issue has been “largely, if not completely,” resolved.
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra met earlier in the day with leading insurance companies, including CVS Health, UnitedHealth Group, Anthem and Cigna, to review the progress of the Biden administration’s fall Covid vaccination campaign, agency spokesperson Jeff Nesbit said in an email.
The insurance companies made it clear that they are “fully covering the new vaccine shots,” according to a rundown of the meeting shared by HHS. They described the problem of some people being denied coverage as “systemic technical issues.”
One insurer, Aetna, said that going forward it would treat the new shot as a seasonal vaccination, meaning members can get Covid vaccinations wherever they get their annual flu shots.
The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off on the updated Covid vaccines this month.
For the first time since the first vaccines became available, the government is not covering the cost of the shots.
Federal health officials had previously assured that the new shots would be provided at no cost for most people with insurance. However, reports quickly surfaced that some people were being told their insurance would not cover it.
The insurance companies said they would continue to closely monitor reports of any “technical or coding barriers to vaccine coverage,” according to a letter shared with NBC News from AHIP, the industry’s trade group.
More than 2 million people had gotten the updated vaccines as of Wednesday, HHS said.
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