Some patients were charged for the COVID-19 vaccine by One Medical
The company said a billing system error led to the charges
Health care company One Medical took administration fees from some people receiving COVID-19 vaccines in Washington, DC, according to bills reviewed by The Verge.
The company runs the COVID-19 vaccination site at DC’s Entertainment and Sports Arena. It also prompted people vaccinated at this site to sign up for a trial account with One Medical to receive the shots.
In a statement given to The Verge, One Medical said that an error in the billing system led to the charges, that impacted patients “are being notified,” and that they should disregard the bill. The monitoring work happens daily to ensure that no new invoices are going out, One Medical said.
The COVID-19 vaccine is supposed to be given without any charge, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC’s “Frequently Asked Questions” page says that patients should not be charged directly for administration fees. The DC Department of Health did not respond to a request for comment by publication.
Chris Driver, who lives in Northeast DC, says One Medical charged him for both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, first shot for $16.94, $40 for the second dose billing a total of $56.94 though he provided his insurance information when he signed in.
The driver’s wife was also vaccinated at the One Medical site, but he says that she did not receive a bill. At the same time, another person who got a first dose of the vaccine at the One Medical site was charged $40 by One Medical, according to a bill reviewed by The Verge. So these charges appear to be inconsistent.
According to a US Census survey, millions of people are not willing to get vaccinated because they’re worried about costs even though the vaccines are free.
One Medical site also asked people to sign up for a trial membership of its health service for vaccinating.
One Medical told The Verge that the information was collected in order to create a patient chart for people vaccinated at its site.
However, this has raised concerns for privacy watchdog groups about private companies using the COVID-19 vaccine administration process to collect personal data on potential customers.