Private providers can charge insurers for administering the injection and those without insurance are covered by the government.
Chicago health officials want to make that clear after a Chicago clinic has learned the hard way.
Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said her inspectors are examining emergency call centers in the city to determine if vaccinated patients we are being charged, in violation of program regulations.
“I want people in Chicago to hear that they shouldn’t be charged directly for receiving a COVID vaccine …” said Arwady.
Jamie Gentry said she was shocked and really disappointed when she unexpectedly discovered that she would have to pay nearly $ 200 to receive the vaccine at Michigan Avenue Immediate Care in Chicago.
Gentry said she was eligible for a vaccine as an essential worker, volunteering regularly in a food pantry.
She booked a vaccine through ZocDoc, the website that Chicago is using to help people track down providers who have signed up to provide the vaccines.
Gentry said it took 16 hours to find one. When she accidentally made two appointments and had to call the clinic to cancel, she said she was told that the clinic was outside her insurance network and that she would have to pay a medical consultation fee of almost $ 200 out of pocket.
“I was scheduling and assuming the vaccine would be free and at most I thought I would have to pay an administrative fee of 15 or $ 20. So I was really shocked and disappointed,” said Gentry.
Dr. Jim Runke, co-medical director of Michigan Avenue Immediate Care, said this was a major oversight.
He told I-Team that they were unaware that fees could not be charged to consumers who were uninsured or out of network – and said they would reimburse the 20 patients charged for 1,500 vaccinates in the previous month.
“So yes, it absolutely fell through the cracks,” said Runke. “It was entirely our fault … I’ve been doing this for 30 years, insurance billing is immensely complicated and confusing. It’s always kind of the last part of the puzzle that we discovered and heard that it is again. He raises his head ugly in the middle of it all, when we’re just focused on patient safety, focused on the safety of our team and things like that, so no excuses. “
Arwady emphasized that the health department does not regulate these facilities, but that the city decides on who receives the vaccine to be administered. She said her department is investigating these complaints and talking to providers.
“It’s mainly related to urgent care, which tends to be more of a service charge that people reimburse for insurance, so we’re bringing these groups together and we just want to make sure that what people are doing is appropriate in terms of what is allowed “said Arwady.
Jamie Gentry said he received an apology and explanation from Dr. Jim Runke of the Michigan Avenue clinic who, by mistake, charged her nearly $ 200.
Runke and public health officials agree that vaccine patients can legitimately be charged for additional services provided at the time the injection is given – including medical treatment and consultations on other illnesses.
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