According to the Star Tribune, Minnesota health insurers have started passing some cost of Covid-19 care cost to the patients since Jan 1. “The move means a growing number of Minnesotans sickened by the virus are joining patients across the country in paying for a portion of their pandemic health care out-of-pocket.”

COVID vaccinations are a good way for Minnesotans to safeguard their health, stay out of the hospital and avoid the potentially large bill.

– Minnesota Council of Health Plans (source: Star Tribune)

The Tribune writes that based on an “cost sharing” agreement between the states and insurers, Covid related fees had been waved, but now they are being passed to patients. Quoting the industry trade group, the Tribune adds that “some people in Medicare and Medicaid health plans will continue to see cost-sharing fees waived for acute COVID-19 treatment and hospitalizations”.

Lucas Nesse, the chief executive of the Minnesota Council of Health Plans, told the Tribune “Waiving cost-sharing was necessary early in the pandemic to remove barriers to treatment for patients. Now that vaccines are widely available, it makes sense to reinstate co-pays, deductibles and co-insurance fees because they help moderate the cost of monthly premiums.”

“The lower the premiums, the more enrollment there will be. Having broader enrollment leads to stable pools of insurance and broader access to care.”

• Minnesota health insurers passing more COVID costs to patients

The issue of cost-sharing during the pandemic raises questions about fairness. On one hand, if so many people are susceptible to a potentially serious viral infection, is it fair for insurers to make patients face a deductible? On the other hand, why should a cancer patient have to pay their deductible if a COVID-19 patient doesn’t?”

– Cynthia Cox, a vice president at the California-based Kaiser Family Foundation (source: Star Tribune)

Sayeh Nikpay, a health economist at the University of Minnesota, told Star Tribune “There are going to be some folks who will continue to get severely ill when they contract COVID, even when they’ve been fully vaccinated and received a booster because they have underlying comorbid conditions,” Nikpay said in an e-mail. “So, this policy is kind of a blunt instrument — some people could be nudged into getting vaccinated, but others will face increased financial risk from cost sharing for COVID-related treatment.”

The Tribune added that “The sixnonprofit health plans in Minnesota — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, HealthPartners, Hennepin Health, Medica, Sanford Health Plan and UCare — are taking different approaches to COVID-19 cost-sharing within Medicare and Medicaid health plans”.