Feds issue coverage plan for covid vaccine and treatment

[Tanuki]

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/national/coronavirus/feds-issue-coverage-plan-for-covid-19-vaccine-and-treatments

"Federal health officials Wednesday issued insurance coverage rules designed to deliver on the promise that every American will have access to free COVID-19 vaccines when they are approved.

The regulations from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, will also increase what Medicare pays hospitals for COVID-19 treatments. The changes arrive at a time when coronavirus infections are rising in much of the country, signaling a third wave that could eclipse the number of cases seen earlier this year.
...

The rules aim to resolve potential legal issues over whether Medicare could cover a vaccine that receives “emergency use authorization” from the Food and Drug Administration. That’s a step short of full approval, and questions arose about whether Medicare could pay under its standard coverage policies.

Under Wednesday’s announcement:

— Seniors with traditional Medicare will pay nothing for COVID-19 vaccines, and any copays and deductibles are waived.

— The government will pay private Medicare Advantage plans to administer the vaccine to seniors. Enrollees will not be charged.

— Workplace and individual health insurance plans will cover the COVID-19 vaccine as a preventive service, with no cost sharing. The requirement applies to the vast majority of private plans, which are mandated to cover approved preventive care under the Obama-era Affordable Care Act — even as the Trump administration is trying to overturn that law at the Supreme Court.

— State Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance plans will have to provide vaccines for free for the duration of the coronavirus public health emergency.

— Doctors, clinics and hospitals vaccinating uninsured people will be able to get paid through a federal fund set up to assist health care providers under financial stress.

The regulations take effect immediately."...(more)

[KPN]

1. All of this is a good thing. But the timing is as I would expect with an administration in

free-fall with only 5 days left before the election. Almost sounds like the Bush administration's "Obama's free cellphones".

[barbtries]

2. it seems that trump's name is not on this.

does he even know about it? is this a federal agency that has not been infiltrated by trump cultists?
it's good. it just surprised me that something so sensible got through, or alternatively, that trump didn't throw a press conference thanking himself for the policy.