Doctors at North Memorial Health Hospital in Minnesota treat a COVID-19 patient.Photo: Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune via Getty Images
As theremaining federal funding for COVID-19 programs quickly runs out, many uninsured Americans will now have to pay for their treatment and testing.
Early in the pandemic, the U.S. government set up a program to reimburse hospitals and clinics for any care they performed on uninsured patients, such as hospital stays,COVID-19 testingand antibody treatments. But with the $15 billion funding package for COVID-19 coverage still stalled in Congress,the program saidit’s no longer accepting claims “due to lack of sufficient funds.”
One of the largest testing networks in the country, Quest Diagnostics,toldThe New York Timesthat they have started telling uninsured patients that “they can’t get it for free,” spokesperson Kimberly B. Gorode said.They will now be charged$125 for testing, or $100 if they go through a physician’s office.
And starting next week, uninsured peoplewill no longer be able to get vaccinated against COVID-19 for free,NPR reported.
The lack of money is due to Congress eliminating the proposed $15 billionfor the White House’s COVID-19 programwithin the larger government spending bill that passed three weeks ago. White House officials had urged Congress to include the funding in the spending bill to stay on top of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularlyas a new wave threatens to hit in the next few weeks. Republicans objected, asking to first get details on how the previous funding was used, which health officials criticized, saying that they’ve sent that information already.
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Democrats have said that they will instead work to pass a standalone bill for COVID-19 funding, but Senate Democrats are unlikely to have enough votes to get it approved,NPR reported.
“Continued execution requires continued support from Congress,” Becerra said last week. “And at this stage, our resources are depleted.”
Last year, the program was able to reimburse $130 million in treatments, testing and vaccinations for uninsured patients. About 31 million Americans are uninsured, and though new COVID-19 cases have slowed, there are still thousands of people hospitalized a day.As of March 28, an average of just under 18,000 Americans are hospitalized with COVID-19 a day, about 3,000 are in ICUs and 753 are dying.
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source: people.com
