States and the federal government recently began rolling out the
COVID-19 vaccine to health care workers across the country. Health plans,
particularly those that serve high-risk individuals, may be ideally situated to
coordinate care and update members on vaccination opportunities, experts
suggest.
The FDA on Dec. 11 authorized emergency use of the COVID-19
vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech in individuals age 16 and older. Then
the agency on Dec. 18 authorized Moderna's vaccine for emergency use in people
18 years or older.
Health care workers and nursing home residents have been
designated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the first group
(phase 1a) to receive the vaccine.
"I think the paradigm of changing tires on a moving bus
applies to this venture," remarks Margaret Murray, CEO of the Association
for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP). "We certainly support the idea of
getting the vaccine to front-line health care workers and the very most
vulnerable populations, such as nursing home residents, first. So CDC is off to
a good start."
But ACAP, which is composed of 77 not-for-profit safety net
health plans covering Medicaid, marketplace and MA enrollees, is concerned
about other vulnerable seniors — such as those who are very frail or homebound
and likely dual eligible — who are not part of that first round. "We need
to think about them in the next wave," Murray tells AIS Health via email.
"We also need to consider how most equitably to distribute the
vaccine."
"Hopefully, this will start to evolve quickly, but there's
yet a lot to be figured out," concurs Cheryl Phillips, M.D., president and
CEO of the SNP Alliance, pointing out that there is no mechanism for tracking
who has and who hasn’t received the vaccine. The plans that are most likely to
serve some of the high-risk older adults that will soon qualify for the vaccine
are MA Special Needs Plans, she says, "and they can be a wonderful partner
for data sharing and working with providers," as well as communicating
with members to help them get the vaccine.
Murray adds messaging from plans will be crucial, especially if
members are skeptical of the vaccine or behind on their vaccines in general.
From RADAR on Medicare Advantage
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