The House panel investigates One Medical for allegedly allowing customers to cut Covid’s vaccine line

A Congressional committee overseeing the Covid-19 crisis opened an investigation into healthcare provider One Medical over reports that it gave vaccines to family members and friends of executives and wealthy clients who were not yet eligible in their states.

Congressman James Clyburn, DS.C., chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, sent a letter on Monday to One Medical CEO Amir Dan Rubin, seeking documents about his vaccine distribution practices.

As the supply of Covid-19 vaccines remains scarce, state health departments have been rationing doses for priority groups of people, primarily frontline health professionals, the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions that put them at greater risk. In the letter, Clyburn claimed that One Medical, based in San Francisco, “has repeatedly and intentionally disregarded the vaccine’s eligibility requirements in several cities and states in the past two months.”

One Medical, which has a market capitalization of around $ 6.4 billion, provides VIP healthcare services to customers in exchange for an annual fee of $ 199. The company, which went public last year with the name of 1Life Healthcare, operates in nine states and the District of Columbia, according to its website.

“Despite being warned that the company’s negligence in vaccine eligibility rules was allowing ineligible patients to skip the line, One Medical failed to properly implement an effective protocol to verify eligibility and instructed the team not to police eligibility “wrote Clyburn.

“I am deeply concerned that doctors’ refusal to adhere to vaccination prioritization guidelines and intentional dose diversion for individuals in lower priority groups could cost more American lives and delay or even make it impossible to contain the virus across the country,” wrote Clyburn.

One Medical representatives did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

One Medical’s shares fell more than 1% in Tuesday morning trading.

The Congressional investigation comes after NPR obtained internal communications from the company last week, showing that it routinely allowed wealthy customers and people with connections to company leaders to cut the line for the vaccine. In some of the cities where One Medical operates, the company has allocated thousands of doses of scarce vaccines, NPR reported.

Complaints about the company have prompted regulators, including the Washington State Department of Health, to suspend distribution of vaccines to One Medical, NPR found.

“These reports raise concerns that the company may be exploring the launch of the federally funded vaccine to increase membership fees and generate fees, regardless of whether potential members who pay fees are actually eligible for the vaccination,” wrote Clyburn in the letter the company.

The NPR reported that some healthcare providers urged One Medical to change its practice.

“Why are young patients with no health problems on a test … allowed to book and receive a coveted vaccine while healthcare professionals are on the waiting list?” a medical professional asked in January, according to internal communications obtained by NPR. “I just saw two appointments for that.”

In response to similar questions, employees were instructed not to prevent patients from receiving the vaccine.

“If that person sees himself in a layer that is being vaccinated, he can vouch for that and make an appointment,” said Spencer Blackman, the company’s director of clinical education, in a note to a doctor, according to NPR. “You cannot make the decision if someone ‘understands’ [a] vaccine or not. “