U.S. Runs Out of Money to Pay Providers to Treat Uninsured COVID-19 Patients
STRAPPED FOR CASH
Doctors and other health-care providers have lost the ability to get reimbursed for testing and treating uninsured patients for the coronavirus, the federal government has said. The Biden administration’s coronavirus reimbursement fund, which previously covered as many as 31.2 million uninsured Americans, has been crippled by a “lack of sufficient funds,” according to The New York Times. The federal Health Resources and Services Administration stopped taking claims for the uninsured on Wednesday, the outlet reported. The agency has also said that it will run out of funds for vaccine claims in two weeks. Uncovered or undercovered patients may now be charged up to $195 for a coronavirus test. The federal coronavirus response at large has been in limbo since Republicans in Congress blocked $22.5 billion in emergency aid requested by the White House. The American Hospital Association has begged Congress to act on the stalled funds, calling the reimbursement fund “essential to our country’s ability to respond to Covid-19.”