Announcement Detail

Insurers OK covering swine flu shots

By: Mike Colias Oct. 27, 2009

Source: (Crain’s) — Illinois’ largest health insurers have agreed to cover the cost of administering swine flu vaccinations for all of their policy holders, state insurance regulators announced Tuesday.

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois, UnitedHealthcare, Aetna and Cigna are among the insurers that voluntarily will cover the full cost of the so-called H1N1 vaccinations, the Illinois Department of Insurance said. The federal government is picking up the tab for the vaccine itself, which is now available at some local hospitals and is expected to be more widely distributed in coming weeks.

Some local insurers had previously said they would cover swine-flu vaccine costs only for members whose policies covered vaccinations, which would have excluded some policy holders. But in recent weeks, those insurers and others told state regulators they would cover all their members, including co-payments and other out-of-pocket costs.

Combined, the eight insurers that have agreed to the coverage account for 80% of all Illinois residents who have private insurance, said Michael McRaith, director of the Illinois Department of Insurance. Others include Humana, Health Alliance, Unicare and PersonalCare.

Many smaller carriers also are likely to fully cover swine-flu vaccination costs too, he said.

“Our concern was that some policyholders might have been deterred from getting the vaccine because of the potential cost,” Mr. McRaith said. “We were pleased to learn that the companies in fact were planning to cover all costs.”  

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