Patients charged hundreds of dollars to get Covid drugs already funded by taxpayers

 

Patients charged hundreds of dollars to get Covid drugs already funded by taxpayers

 

A new investigation by my colleague, CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, found some of the most vulnerable Americans are being charged for protection against Covid-19.   Doctors and hospitals are charging fees to give Evusheld, the only drug that works to prevent Covid-19 for many immunocompromised people, even though the government is distributing the drug for free.   Evusheld, a monoclonal antibody, is the only Covid-19 prevention option for many people with weak immune systems, whose vaccines failed to provide antibodies.   Federal regulations forbid hospitals, clinics or any other providers from charging patients for Covid-19 vaccinations; they can't charge for the vaccines themselves or for administering them.   But those regulations allow providers to charge an administrative fee for giving Evusheld, and there is no limit on the amount of that fee. Sometimes, insurance will cover the fee; sometimes, all or part of it gets passed on to the patient.   Michelle Fontenot, a kidney transplant patient in St. Charles, Illinois, argued with her health insurance company when it said she would have to pay $800 for Evusheld. It took weeks of calls and emails, she says, but she ended up not having to pay anything.   "It's completely unjust to have a public health policy that requires the most vulnerable to Covid to pay their own way for protective treatment," said Art Caplan, director of medical ethics at NYU's Grossman School of Medicine. "It makes no ethical sense."