Medicare may not pay for early coronavirus vaccines without a legal fix
A health worker injects a person during clinical trials for a Covid-19 vaccine at Research Centers of America in Hollywood, Florida.
Eva Marie Uzcategui | Bloomberg | Getty Images
If you’re on Medicare and hope to get a coronavirus vaccine as soon as it’s available, it may take an act of Congress for it to be free.
The CARES Act, signed into law in March, has no cost-sharing for Medicare beneficiaries for a Covid-19 vaccine once it’s available. However, due to existing Medicare rules, the legislation would apply only to a vaccine that undergoes the standard approval process for new biologics — not one authorized under emergency use, which is how the Trump administration anticipates making a vaccine available quickly.
“I think officials are realizing they don’t have a good solution besides going back to Congress and getting the statutory language …continued .
[Source: CNBC News]