Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday announced the state would direct insurance companies to pay for the costs of vaccine administration, vowing that all New Yorkers would be able to receive the vaccine free of charge.
Insurers will be required to pay the cost of administering the vaccine under a directive issued by the state's Department of Financial Services, the governor announced.
"In New York State, no person will have to pay a penny for a vaccination," Cuomo said. "We want people to get vaccinated. It shouldn't be about wealth. No one will pay a penny."
The federal government is providing the vaccine doses and ancillary supplies "at no cost" to those enrolled as providers, according to the CDC's coronavirus vaccination program. But the state will direct insurers to cover other types of costs.
"We're getting the vaccine from the federal government, but theoretically, an insurer could say, 'Yeah, but I had to pay the nurse, I had to pay this one.' The state Department of Financial Services is saying the insurers have to pay that cost themselves," Cuomo said.
The New York Health Plan Association, an insurance industry group, welcomed the governor's announcement.
"With the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines, New York’s health plans are committed to ensuring that all New Yorkers receive a vaccination at no cost," HPA president Eric Linzer said in a statement. "Making sure residents are immunized against the coronavirus is a public health imperative that will save lives."
Cuomo announced the directive as he laid out a plan to ensure NY is ready once phase 2 of priority groups could start getting vaccinated, which he estimated could happen by late January. Plans for regional vaccination hubs are being developed so the state is prepared to start vaccinating a broader swath of the population once vaccine supplies are available.
"Our members stand ready to work with Governor Cuomo and his Administration, local public health authorities and our partners in the delivery system to get New Yorkers vaccinated and that they have the information they need on the importance of the COVID-19 vaccines and where and how to be immunized," Linzer added.
For people without insurance, a federal pool of money from the CARES Act can be used to reimburse providers for administering vaccines to people without insurance as well as healthcare costs to treat people for COVID-19 through the Health Resources and Services Administration's Provider Relief Fund. That fund had already dwindled from $175 billion to about $30 billion as of November 10th since it could also be used COVID testing and treatment, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis. Once initial vaccine doses are distributed, more funding may be needed for vaccines for people without insurance, according to the analysis.
But various laws and rules have been changed to make the COVID-19 vaccines more accessible, depending on the health coverage program or insurance.
"As part of any campaign to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations, it will be important to make sure patients realize that access and affordability challenges they may have faced for other vaccines should not be a problem for the COVID-19 vaccine," the analysis reads.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently announced a rule to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are free of cost for Medicare recipients. The federal government's vaccine development and distribution team—Operation Warp Speed—has also indicated its goal is to ensure Americans do not have to pay.
Vaccines started being administered on Monday after the Pfizer vaccine received the FDA's emergency authorization.
Moderna will undergo an FDA review for emergency authorization Thursday. If approved, some 346,000 doses would arrive in New York State starting December 22nd, according to state health officials.
