Thousands of small pharmacies are playing a crucial role in vaccinating against COVID-19, but many are not getting paid for the work and associated costs.
NBC News reported Friday the mom and pop pharmacies are investing huge sums of money to buy freezers for the vaccine, personal protective equipment, and scheduling software. In addition, many are hiring additional staff.
But now they are finding it difficult to recoup their costs, according to the network news.
Pharmacists in 11 states said they’re having difficulty billing insurance companies for their work because many providers do not permit them to file for reimbursement outside of pharmacy benefits. Instead, vaccine dose administration falls under medical benefit, according to NBC News.
“My entire career has been a scramble to try to make up the losses because the reimbursement model isn't good or healthy,” said Neal Smoller, who owns the Village Apothecary in Woodstock, New York. “We're doing a tremendous amount of work to provide this vaccine compared to others, and the reimbursement this time should be simple and represent that.”
Most pharmacies expect between $30 and $40 from insurance companies to administer two shots of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
But some are just taking financial losses because of the complexities of the insurance system and the insurance status they hold within it, NBC News said.
The move to provide pharmacies with the vaccine is part of a plan by the Biden administration to ramp up vaccinations as new and potentially more serious virus strains appear.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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