Keller @ Large: Costlier Health Care Returns After End Of COVID Emergency

Keller@Large: The post-pandemic cost of coronavirus

keller@large: The post-pandemic cost of coronavirus 02:35

BOSTON – Did you hear my colleague Christina Rix's report Monday about a local resident shocked by a $190 bill for a COVID-19 vaccine?

This appears to be the result of chaotic insurance bureaucracy. You can still be vaccinated for free depending on your insurance.

But while a March analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation predicted the maximum price would be about $130 for unsubsidized vaccines, co-author Cynthia Cox now says the price may have been too low. "Pharmacies may charge an administrative fee. It may be $20, $30 or $50 on top of the cost of the vaccine," he says.

And if you go to a pharmacy outside your insurer's network, "not only may you incur the cost of the vaccine, but you may also have to pay some of the cost, essentially per visit, at the expense of the provider who gives you actually gave. the vaccine." This." "He's running." You got the vaccine. You're the one who did it.

The days of free tests are over, and while these home tests are still relatively inexpensive, the more accurate PCR tests are not. It will cost you $69.99 at select CVS locations.

Even if treatments like baxlovid, which the government bought in bulk, are free, "when these previously purchased doses run out, the timing of which is still unclear, there will be costs," Cox points out.

The end of the state of emergency appears to mean a return to more expensive health care for consumers. "Covid care in the United States is a little bit like the care you usually get in other big, rich countries: It's free and it doesn't matter which pharmacy you go to," Cox said. "What's happening now is basically a return to how health care works in the United States."

Congress has rejected recent requests from the White House to continue support for vaccines, tests and treatments. Instead of making the most of it, the administration seemed intent on stopping Covid, despite long-term Covid surges and warnings.

Politically understandable. But when we asked Cynthia Cox whether increased spending on preventive measures threatens the spread of the highly contagious virus, her answer was yes.

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John Keller

John Keller is a political analyst for WBZ-TV News, and his "Keller@Large" reporting on a wide variety of topics is featured regularly on WBZ-TV News at 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. Keller's comments can also be viewed during the week. Morning at 5:30. on WBZ this morning.

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