Becker's Spine Review

44 HEALTHCARE NEWS Optum erroneously billed patients for COVID-19 vaccine By Alia Paavola S ome patients in New Mexico reported receiving a bill for the COVID-19 vaccine aer visiting an Optum clinic, according to local news station KRQE. One patient, Kim Federici, went to Optum Health's Journal Center Clinic to get the vac- cine in January. She later received a bill for $34, charging her for the administration of the vaccine. e bill came as a surprise, because the Coro- navirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act ensures that the vaccine is free for Amer- icans. Specifically, the legislation prevents in- surers from applying member cost-sharing, which includes copays, deductibles and coin- surance, to costs associated with coronavirus vaccinations. It also tacked on rules barring pharmacies, physicians and hospitals from billing patients for vaccine administration. Ms. Federici reached out to Optum about the bill and was told that it was a glitch in Op- tum's system that automatically sent a bill to patients who didn't have insurance. "We apologize that some people have re- ceived a bill due to an administrative error. Patients do not need to pay fees associated with COVID-19 vaccinations and can disre- gard bills received related to their vaccine. We have addressed the issue and encourage any- one with questions to call us," Optum said in a statement to KRQE. n Pfizer forecasts $15B in COVID-19 vaccines sales this year By Maia Anderson Pfizer said Feb. 2 that it expects to sell about $15 billion worth of COVID-19 vaccines this year, CNBC reports. The drugmaker said it expects an adjusted pretax profit in the high 20 per- cent range of revenue for the vaccine, according to CNBC. It forecasted its total 2021 revenue to be $59.4 billion to $61.4 billion. In the fourth quarter of 2020, Pfizer saw $11.68 billion in revenue versus an expected $11.43 billion. That's a 12 percent increase over the same period the year prior, according to CNBC. n What the CDC knows about the nation's first 13 million COVID-19 vaccine recipients By Mackenzie Bean N early 13 million people have received at least one COVID-19 vac- cine dose in the first month they were available, according to the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published Feb. 1. To compile the report, researchers analyzed data on vaccines administered in the U.S. between Dec. 14, 2020, and Jan. 14. Included vaccine data was reported to the CDC by Jan. 26. Four report findings: 1. While data about the sex and age of recipients was widely reported at 97 percent and 99.9 percent, respectively, data on race and ethnicity was only available for 51.9 percent of vaccine recipients. 2. Of vaccine recipients who reported their sex, 63 percent were women and 37 percent were men. 3. Among the recipients whose age was known, 55 percent were 50 or older. Another 16.8 percent were ages 40–49, and 28.2 percent were ages 18–39. 4. Of the 6.7 million recipients with known race or ethnicity data, 60.4 were white and 39.6 percent represented racial and ethnic minority groups. Due to data limitations, the CDC warned against generalizing its findings, but said they underscore the need for more complete race and ethnicity data to ensure equal vaccine access. n

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