CMS increases payment for administering COVID-19 vaccine
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CMS has announced that it is increasing the Medicare payment rate for administering COVID-19 vaccine doses, in some instances by more than 75%.
The payment will increase from about $28 to $40 for physicians, hospitals, pharmacies and “many other immunizers” to administer a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, and from about $45 to $80 for administering a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine. The exact payment that physicians receive will vary depending on the type of organization that administers the vaccine and where the organization is located, according to a CMS press release.
Andy Slavitt, senior adviser to the White House COVID-19 Response Team, said the payment increases will benefit providers and communities.
“Medical professionals that are on the frontlines of this vaccination effort — the same people that are on the frontlines of this entire pandemic — need to be taken care of,” he said during a press briefing.
He added that payment increases “will make it easier for more health care providers to get out into communities and give more COVID shots to people in need.”
The AMA had previously advocated for an increase in COVID-19 vaccine administration payment, Susan R. Bailey, MD, the organization’s president, said in a statement.
“The Biden administration acted promptly in updating the Medicare payment rate for COVID-19 vaccine administration,” she said. “The updated rate reflects new information about the costs involved in administering the vaccine for different types of providers and suppliers and the additional resources necessary to ensure the vaccine is administered safely and appropriately.”
References:
AMA. Statement on new Medicare payments for COVID vaccine administration. https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/ama-statements/statement-new-medicare-payments-covid-vaccine-administration. Accessed March 16, 2021.
CMS. Biden-Harris administration increases Medicare payment for life-saving COVID-19 vaccine. https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-increases-medicare-payment-life-saving-covid-19-vaccine. Accessed March 16, 2021.
Whitehouse.gov. Press briefing by White House COVID-19 Response Team and public health officials. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/03/15/press-briefing-by-white-house-covid-19-response-team-and-public-health-officials-15/. Accessed March 16, 2021.
Perspective
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The Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) is pleased to see that CMS is increasing COVID-19 vaccine payment rates in Medicare to better support primary care clinicians and others administering the vaccine. We also very much second CMS’s call for private insurers to follow its lead. And further, we call upon all states to adopt Medicare payment levels within Medicaid.
A large majority of primary care practices — 89%, according to a recent Larry A. Green Center and PCC survey — have indicated their desire to be a vaccination site, even though previous payment levels were not financially viable. Getting the United States population vaccinated against COVID-19 is our number one domestic priority and doing so across all racial/ethnic and demographic groups is critical. As a trusted partner, primary care can play an outsized role in achieving our nation’s vaccine goals.
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