US: Health insurers gradually ending COVID-19 waivers

ANKARA

A number of health insurers in the US are gradually putting an end to waivers for COVID-19 treatment fees as vaccination efforts have triggered partial normalization, according to a report on Tuesday.

Many American health insurers, during the pandemic under federal law, waived deductibles, co-payments and other costs for patients who had insurance but contracted the coronavirus, and headed to hospitals for doctors and medications.

With over 290 million doses of vaccines distributed in the US, and almost 96 million people, or 29% of the population, receiving two doses, those waivers are now ended by a growing number of health insurers, and fees return to pre-pandemic standards.

"When it comes to treatment, more and more consumers will find that the normal course of deductibles, copayments and coinsurance will apply," Sabrina Corlette, research professor and co-director of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University, told Kaiser Health News.

"The good news is that vaccinations and most COVID tests should still be free," she told the US-based newsroom that publishes about health issues.

Such waivers covered 88% of people during the pandemic who had insurance, either as individuals or group plans by employers, according to a report by The Peterson Center on Healthcare and Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) published in November.

"We found that many individual and fully-insured group market insurers had waived cost-sharing for patients receiving treatment for COVID-19 at some point during the pandemic," the report said.

"However, at the time of our last analysis, some waivers had already expired and many more were set to expire in the fall," it added.

Waivers provided massive savings for patients who fell seriously ill and required treatment in hospitals during the pandemic.

Employer-provided insurance covered approximately 157 million people in the US last year. Their average annual premiums were $7,470 for single coverage and $21,342 for family coverage.

While average single premium increased 4% and the average family premium increased 5% over the past year, workers’ wages increased below that by 3.4%, according to another KFF report in October.