DETROIT – Treatment for COVID-19 will soon be more expensive for many people.
At the start of the COVID pandemic, both Health Alliance Plan and Blue Cross recognized the need to eliminate out-of-pocket costs for patients who developed COVID during the health emergency.
That bonus coverage will disappear soon. Not all insurers decided to protect patients with COVID from out-of-pocket costs. However, two of the largest in Metro Detroit did. Starting in October, that extra benefit is being rolled back.
Vaccines are free because they’re paid for by tax dollars. Federal law requires that COVID testing is covered by health insurance. But there is no requirement that private insurance waive copays and deductibles related to any other aspects of COVID treatment, like hospitalization.
Dr. Michael Genord is the CEO of the Health Alliance Plan. He said nationwide, not all insurers eliminated those costs but it “was really important that we remove any barriers to testing and treatment early on in the public health emergency.”
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan also saw a need to help by waiving patient costs. Dr. James Grant is their Chief Medical Officer.
“It cost us millions upon millions of dollars but we did it because it was the right thing to do for the community,” Grant said.
After Oct. 1 those hospitalized will be fully responsible for copays and deductibles on COVID-related care. A typical COVID hospital stay has been estimated around $20,000. That means many people will be responsible for their full deductible and/or out-of-pocket maximum.
Read: Complete Michigan COVID coverage