COVID vaccines to remain free to uninsured under Biden plan

The Biden administration Tuesday announced a program to ensure that uninsured Americans continue to have access to free coronavirus vaccine shots and treatments through next year, even as the government winds down its pandemic response.

The $1.1 billion program, funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, would allow officials to purchase coronavirus vaccine doses for uninsured Americans after the current federal supply is exhausted—and when vaccine makers plan to charge as much as $130 per dose. People covered by private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid are also not expected to pay out of pocket for vaccine shots or treatments once the public health emergency ends.

The administration has already begun to slowly shift responsibility for providing COVID-19 shots and treatment to the private sector, with the White House set to end the three-year-old public health emergency for coronavirus on May 11.

Under what officials are calling the “bridge access program,” the federal government will continue to purchase and distribute some coronavirus vaccine doses to local health departments and centers nationwide, HHS said. Federal agencies also will set up contracts with pharmacies to ensure they continue to administer vaccine shots at no cost. Questions remain about a number of aspects of the program, including how much funding will be apportioned for vaccine shots vs. treatment.

“This plan is designed to make sure that people can get the vaccines and treatments they need even if they do not have health insurance coverage,” HHS said in a statement.

The New York Times and Politico first reported the initiative.

The Biden administration has spent billions of dollars purchasing coronavirus vaccine doses since they first became available in late 2020, and Americans are currently eligible to receive the shots for free.

Biden officials Tuesday characterized the program as a “temporary solution.” Congress has repeatedly balked at setting aside additional funds for the COVID response, or funding a program sought by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that would provide vaccine shots to uninsured adults.

A program to help uninsured Americans receive coronavirus vaccine shots has been sorely needed, said Jennifer Kates, senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation, which has analyzed the push to commercialize coronavirus vaccines, tests and treatments.

“There’s going to be a group of people, those who are uninsured and, frankly, those who are underinsured who will not have a way to get a coronavirus vaccine after that supply is gone,” Kates said.

While vaccine manufacturers Moderna and Pfizer have pledged to create assistance programs to help cover the cost of shots for uninsured Americans, “those are not guaranteed,” Kates said. “And there’s no details yet available on how many doses those programs will provide, and for how long.”

Biden officials have spent months strategizing around how to ensure continued access to coronavirus vaccine shots, tests and treatments, with some questions still unresolved. For instance, Medicare beneficiaries currently can receive eight free at-home COVID tests each month, a program that is set to end when the public health emergency winds down next month and Medicare stops covering the tests.

“[W]ithout coverage under Medicare, many older Americans will not be able to afford to pay out-of-pocket for these critical tests, and they simply won’t test,” Senate Democrats wrote to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra earlier this month.