Federal funding drying up for COVID-19 tests, vaccines for uninsured people

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (WPEC) — As COVID-19 cases drop across the country, federal COVID-19 relief funding is drying up.

The White House recently asked Congress to pass $22 billion in additional relief spending, but so far, lawmakers have reached an impasse.

Now, a key program to reimburse healthcare providers who administer COVID-19 services to uninsured patients is also winding down.

The Health Resources and Services Administration announced that the Uninsured Program stopped accepting claims for COVID-19 testing earlier this week. Come April 5, the program will stop accepting claims for the COVID-19 vaccines.

Florida healthcare provider Kristofer Labson says this leaves some of the most vulnerable people in our community with no recourse.

Labson helps provide COVID-19 services to underinsured and uninsured homeless and homebound patients from Vero Beach to Miami through his company, Labson Family Health Consultants.

“They don’t have vehicles to go back and forth to get vaccines, they don’t have providers to go and see and unfortunately a lot of them are in extremely vulnerable situations,” Labson said.

He says many will now lose access to boosters and tests.

It’s not clear how much retail pharmacies like Publix and CVS might charge for vaccines without insurance, but according to the CVS website, a voluntary PCR test will cost you $139.

“We are fully confident the administration and Congress will find a solution to help ensure people without insurance continue to have access to COVID-19 testing, vaccines and treatment," a CVS spokesperson said. "As demonstrated throughout the pandemic, we are committed to working closely with federal and state officials to provide access to testing, treatments and vaccines to help support the communities we serve.”