Clinics plan to charge for H1N1 vaccine
CHAMPAIGN – Planning to get an H1N1 vaccination? Better check your insurance coverage.
The vaccine itself is free, courtesy of the federal government, and public health departments are administering it free at schools and at their own vaccination clinics.
But other providers are permitted to charge patients for administering the vaccine, and some of them are.
Christie Clinic, which has a limited supply of the vaccine on hand for the public, is charging $23, clinic spokeswoman Karen Blatzer said.
For now, the clinic is offering the vaccine only to some of the patients identified by public health as being at higher risk for H1N1 flu complications.
Carle Clinic also plans to charge $23. Clinic spokeswoman Jennifer Hendricks said the patients' insurance plans will be billed, and the amount of out-of-pocket cost involved will depend on each patient's coverage.
Aidan Boyd,3, clutches a tissue as he is held by his father Matt while getting the nasal form of the H1N1 vaccine from Public Health nurse Amy Walker at Thomasboro grade school on Thursday. Aidan attends the preschool class at Thomasboro. The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District began area H1N1 vaccinations Thursday at Thomasboro Grade School with 120 of the 200 plus students getting the vacccine. Agency Administrator Julie Pryde said Public health will then set up vaccination clinics in the two year-round Champaign schools that are in session Friday, Kenwood and Barkstall elementary schools. Plans to offer vaccinations Friday at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in Urbana were canceled because there isn´t enough time for the school to get ready, Pryde said. By Robin Scholz
Walgreens drugstores plan to charge $18 for an H1N1 vaccination, but the chain doesn't know yet how much vaccine it will receive, which stores will make vaccinations available and how soon, according to Walgreens spokesman Jim Cohn.
Major insurers in Illinois – including Health Alliance Medical Plans, PersonalCare, Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, CIGNA, Humana, Unicare and UnitedHealthcare – have agreed to cover administrative costs associated with H1N1 vaccinations, and some smaller insurers are also offering coverage, according to the Illinois Department of Insurance.
But covered doesn't necessarily mean free.
Patients should check with their insurers to find out if their plan will require them to make a co-payment for an H1N1 vaccination, and – if they plan to be vaccinated at a doctor's office – whether there's a separate co-payment for the doctor's office visit, the department advises.
For example, Blatzer said, if patients are coming to Christie Clinic only for an H1N1 vaccination, they won't also be charged for an office visit.
Patients may also want to find out in advance where an H1N1 vaccination is covered under their health plan – especially if they plan to get one through an out-of-network provider, the Department of Insurance advises.
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