COVID vaccine and testing no longer free for some, leading to calls for alternative forms of funding.
CBS News
NEW YORK -- The Food and Drug Administration has authorized a second COVID-19 booster shot for people over 50.
But for anyone without insurance, the vaccine as well as testing could now cost you.
COVID tests for uninsured Americans are no longer free in some places. That's because the federal program that reimburses clinics and hospitals for testing stopped accepting claims last week, according to the White House. It's a measure some feel can be problematic in the days ahead.
The changes come as the new BA.2 variant makes up the majority of new COVID cases across the country. In the Northeast, the strain makes up at least 70 percent of those new cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
"The new variant subvariant, as it's called, is more transmissible than the original Omicron, but it does not appear to be more dangerous," said Dr. David Goldberg, an infectious disease specialist at New York Presbyterian Medical Group.
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/covid-vaccine-and-testing-no-longer-free-for-some-leading-to-calls-for-alternative-forms-of-funding/
NEW YORK -- The Food and Drug Administration has authorized a second COVID-19 booster shot for people over 50.
But for anyone without insurance, the vaccine as well as testing could now cost you.
COVID tests for uninsured Americans are no longer free in some places. That's because the federal program that reimburses clinics and hospitals for testing stopped accepting claims last week, according to the White House. It's a measure some feel can be problematic in the days ahead.
The changes come as the new BA.2 variant makes up the majority of new COVID cases across the country. In the Northeast, the strain makes up at least 70 percent of those new cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
"The new variant subvariant, as it's called, is more transmissible than the original Omicron, but it does not appear to be more dangerous," said Dr. David Goldberg, an infectious disease specialist at New York Presbyterian Medical Group.
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/covid-vaccine-and-testing-no-longer-free-for-some-leading-to-calls-for-alternative-forms-of-funding/
