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this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2024
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Only 19% of people have gotten the latest lastest Covid vaccine.
The first one was giant walk in clinics where you just told them your name and address. Completely free. The largest vaccine drive in US history.
The second round was at pharmacies and some popup spots. Free but they bill via insurance.
The third was at pharmacies only and free only if you didn't have insurance.
I know I am speculating here but is it possible, just remotely possible that trying to reduce costs in the short run by managed inconvenience and using crony capitalism is a factor in the decline of vaccination? And furthermore costs us as a society more with more deaths, more disability, more sick time taken, less time for students in school, less overally human happiness than just doing the way that proved it worked amazingly well 2 years ago. Could it be that by making things harder for people they are less likely to do it? Do humans really respond to incentives and short term cost savings do not always translate to greater long term prosperity?
Oh man this is like way too wild. No way I am right about any of this.
Covid vaccines remain free to anyone with insurance, including Medicare. They are immediately available at just about any pharmacy. Access is not the problem.
My sister's insurance didn't cover it. Which is wild, and I thought should be, but she fought it hard and that was the final answer. She had to go to a free vaccine event to get it because she couldn't afford the several hundred dollars they wanted without insurance.
yeah, despite this being legally required. This is the absolute shit of privatized health insurance in the US. These companies know they can just obfuscate, deny, and delay with impunity, and they do so.
If it is not a problem how come last month they would not go forward without my insurance information and made a big stink about having problems confirming everything?
because back in september the government transitioned from direct funding to an insurance mandate based system. So yes you have to provide your insurance information.
Why?
Because your insurance is now paying. Previously it was directly funded by the government.
Why is there a 2nd middleman? The retailer is already a middleman buying in bulk and selling to consumers. If the vaccine costs x amount why not just pay the pharmacy the x instead of the government paying y + x to an insurance company? The insurance company isn't adding any value to the process. They aren't coordinating the logistics, they aren't pushing their users to come in, they aren't providing anything.
Huh? The person with health insurance has already paid the insurance company. That person owes zero dollars to anyone for the vaccine. The government also is not involved in the transaction. The payment is from the insurance company to the pharmacy.
Insurance does add value. It buffers people from variations in health costs. In the case here of one $200 vaccine dose, sure many people could pay directly. Also many people can’t. In either case that $200 is a barrier to getting vaccinated. It is in society’s interest, our interest, to have high vaccination rates so we try to remove the barriers to getting vaccinated.
I think for profit health insurance is a shitty system but as long as we have this shitty system I want the government to regulate the crap out of those insurers. Like requiring no cost vaccines.
You might be right about the Covid vaccine, but this article is mostly referring to young children and vaccines such as measles. I don't think it would be about distribution changes in that case.
More parents are requesting exemptions, with the implication being that more people have become polarized against all vaccines.
For people in the USA: The covid vaccine is free for people with insurance.
Additionally, at least some doctor's offices have it (mine does, but I don't want to assume they all do), and there are vaccine clinics where they do flu/covid/etc that show up periodically if that's more your style.
I'm not specifically calling out the user I quoted, just making a general statement because I've seen that exact sentiment ("the covid vaccine is no longer free") like 4 or 5 times on lemmy in just the past day. It's disinformation/misinformation and it leads to situations where misinformed people decide not to get vaccinated, in part, because they think it's going to cost them money.
Do why did they ask me for insurance information when I got there last month?
If the provider you were seeking the vaccine from didn't already have up-to-date, accurate, and valid insurance information for you, then that would be one reason for asking. Realistically, a random internet stranger isn't going to know the answer to your specific situation. However, if you want to know more about your specific circumstances, you may consider contacting them again and asking for clarification.
I don't know how to ask Walgreens this.
Because while you may not be billed for it, insurance will still pay for it.
I got my vaccine while in the weird period after getting a new job where you don't have your health insurance info yet.
I paid $200 for it.
I'd do it again - got covid a few weeks ago and it was pretty light, likely a result of the vaccine - but damn, that's a hard ask for a huge portion of the population.
The rollout for the 2023 vaccine was awful. I wouldn't be surprised that some folks gave up because you just couldn't get an appointment and then it was out of mind.
I have insurance and didn't pay for any of them.