Private insurance to cover cost swine flu clinics in Mass.
By: Health Insurance
Submitted: 2009-12-14 10:12:30 | Word Count: 431
Massachusetts communities will be spared from costs related to distributing the swine flu vaccine under a statewide plan announced Tuesday.
A handful of private insurance companies have agreed to reimburse communities for staffing and materials costs associated with holding vaccine clinics, said state public health department spokesman John Jacob. The vaccine itself is provided free by the federal government.
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“Cities and towns holding local public flu clinics for residents can incur significant administrative costs,” Jacob said. “This provides a way for cities and towns to be reimbursed for those administrative costs.”
Some clinics have already taken place in the Brockton area, while others are scheduled for coming weeks.
Costs for communities can include paying nurses and other staff to work at the clinics, Jacob said.
Having the costs covered “is especially important in the current budgetary climate,” he added.
The reimbursement could potentially help some communities to hold more clinics than previously planned, Jacob said.
Health plans helping to provide the funding include Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, BMC HealthNet Plan, Fallon Community Health Plan, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Health New England, Senior Whole Health, Tufts Health Plan and UniCare, according to the state public health department.
However, some public health officials in the Brockton area said their costs for the clinics are already being covered through grant money.
In Brockton, the Board of Health has tapped the federal Public Health Emergency Response Grant to cover costs related to the three clinics held so far, said executive director Louis Tartaglia.
In West Bridgewater, the same grant will be used to cover costs from a public clinic planned for Dec. 12, said Health Agent Robert Casper.
About 25 percent of the state’s swine flu vaccine has been allocated to local health departments, state officials have said. The remaining 75 percent has gone to hospitals, doctors’ offices and community health centers.
Shipments of the vaccine have been slower than many had hoped so far. But officials at the state public health department say the shipments should pick up in coming weeks, leading to more public health clinics being scheduled.
Cases of swine flu, officially known as H1N1 influenza, have recently started to decline nationally, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
