To answer this - nothing. The vaccine admin codes which are billed to either insurance or government are paid out as greenman listed above. If for whatever reason the claim was denied (say a 10 year old got the shot and the insurance company denied it) the patient would still not be on the hook.
The provider is legally barred from billing the patient. If Ins Co didn’t pay, they would bill government. If a provider bills a patient for the COVID vaccine they can be reported to HHS Inspector General to remedy the situation.
I am a health actuary(-ish) and I hadn’t consider that the fee was bundled and covered both shots. That’s certainly possible. It was way back in April so I doubt it’s outstanding. Services at the pharmacy counter are generally adjudicated within a day or so.
How bad is the spread going to be in schools this year? Last year our school mandated masks (rural Iowa). Our governor took that mask mandate ability away from schools…
Last year most schools also offered virtual options. Given the epic fail of virtual schooling in many districts, there will be more kids at school this year. So less social distancing and fewer masks. And a variant that is more contagious. I’m not feeling positive. School starts next week in many districts here.
Virtual school was rough on most kids, but a surprising number of kids did really well with it. I wonder how many schools will try to continue some virtual offering for the kids who thrived with it.
District I live in is in-person only, and hot controversy about whether masks are required. Signaling suggests it might be for K-6 but probably not for 7-12. 6/7 does represent a building split… it would be awkward to have different rules in the same building(s). And since most 7th graders are already 12 / eligible for Pfizer and most 6th graders won’t be when school begins, there’s some logic behind splitting it there. But parents of immunocompromised 7-12 graders are understandably upset.
I wouldn’t have expected many immunocompromised kids 7-12. That usually happens because you are on chemotherapy for cancer, or had an organ transplant, or have HIV, or have some nasty auto-immune disease that is treated with immune-suppressing drugs. And while all of those categories are somewhat common, they are a lot less common in high school than among the population at large.
It looks like schools near me are going to be all-masked, which isn’t terribly controversial here.
I think it’s 2 or 3 parents screaming loudly. We are in the kind of upper middle class community where foreign adoptions of kids with health issues aren’t rare. No idea who these people are or if that’s responsible for any of these immunocompromised kids.
This can also vary by subject. My son did all right with most classes, but didn’t fare well with an AP Stats course. He mentioned that there is a difference in initial processing of information when the presenter is physically present (and in a way, “demanding” your immediate attention) vs. a video presentation.
There is also the ability to do an ad hoc presentation on something that a student is having problems with can make a huge difference in that initial processing of new information.
I mean, my own child did online school grades 10-12. But the difference was that we chose an online school with a track record, not a public school that was trying to implement something on the fly while already underfunded & under resourced in the traditional environment. It’s no wonder it was an epic fail for so many. (NOT blaming the teachers, students, or parents here. They were dealt a rotten hand.)
COVID-NET: Trends in Hospitalizations in Children Ages 4 Years and Younger
CDC’s Coronavirus Disease 2019-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET) shows that hospitalization rates are increasing, including rates in children. Compared to June 26, 2021, weekly rates in children ages 4 years and younger for the week ending July 17, 2021 have tripled from 0.2 to 0.6 per 100,000 population. While rates are higher in adults, children—including very young children—are also at risk for COVID-19-associated hospitalizations. Unlike adults, children younger than 12 years of age are not yet eligible for any of the available COVID-19 vaccines.
There does seem to be data that COVID is effecting young kids still at a lower but currently rapidly increasing rate.
On June 29, the seven-day average of new cases for Florida kids under 12 was 205. By July 29, that number had increased more than sevenfold to 1,544 — slightly higher than the increase among 60- to 64-year-olds, who have been eligible for the vaccine since March 15.
The town next to us, pretty affluent, was on the news the other day for a shouting match some parents had at a the school board meeting protesting mask mandates. good times.
