Government Ends Funding for Life-Saving COVID-19 Treatment
Government Ends Funding for Live-Saving COVID-19 Treatment
• As of September 6, 2022, live-saving Monoclonal Antibody treatment costs will no longer be covered by the federal government’s COVID-19 relief program, passing the costs onto the patient.
• The cost to receive monoclonal antibody treatment increased nearly 500%, with uncertainty around if insurance companies will cover this treatment going forward, many patients fear they will have to come out of pocket (upwards of $3,000) for this treatment.
• Price increases and uncertainty around insurance coverages will make it more challenging for smaller medical practices to stock and distribute treatments, resulting in increased reliance on large healthcare networks, such as hospitals for treatment.
Over the past year and a half, patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 were able to receive monoclonal antibody treatments for little to no cost regardless of insurance. This treatment was made available through the Federal Government’s COVID Relief funding in conjunction with the FDA’s emergency use authorization for certain treatments - sotrovimab and bebtelovimab. All patients who tested positive for COVID-19 and were at high risk for hospitalization qualified for treatment. In most cases, the treatment was able to help prevent hospitalization and support a full recovery from COVID-19.
Many patients in the greater Miami, Florida area, were able to receive this treatment from the comfort of their own homes through iCare Mobile Medicine’s Concierge Healthcare services. “Over the past year, we have administered over 400 monoclonal antibody treatments to COVID-positive patients in their homes. Doing so this has greatly reduced the spread of COVID-19 by isolating the patients in the comforts of their own homes and out of the overcrowded hospitals. 100% of our patients fully recovered from COVID-19 post-treatment, with only 2 patients requiring hospitalization before a full recovery… and the best part was we could provide this life-saving treatment in this manor for little to no cost to the patient…the decision to no longer provide funding for these treatment options stand to negatively impact the underprivileged communities who will no longer be able to afford it the most.” Said Ivan Islamaj PA-C, MMS, CEO and Co-Founder of iCare Mobile Medicine in Miami, Florida.
iCare Mobile Medicine is one of the most efficient providers of Monoclonal Antibody treatments in the state of Florida, earning strong accolades from the Florida Depart of Health and the patients they have treated.
The Cost Per Treatment Will Increase nearly 500% Starting September 6th, 2022
Before this decision, medical practices were able to request antibody treatments from their state department of health for no upfront cost as a part of the COVID relief program. Ultimately this led to clinics providing this treatment at little to no cost to the patient.
As of September 1st, 2022, antibody treatments will carry a cost upwards of $2,650 per treatment, this cost is likely to be passed entirely to the patient.
Uncertainty Around Insurance Coverage
According to Ivan Islamaj MMS-C PA, CEO and Co-Founder of iCare Mobile Medicine in Miami, Florida “We have had the majority of our antibody treatment claims denied over the past year by insurance companies. And there is still uncertainty if monoclonal antibody treatments or other COVID-related treatments will be covered fully by insurance.” Ivan added, “Even if their insurance does cover the treatment if the patient has yet to reach their deductible, which the average deductible in the U.S is over $4,000, the patient may still be required to pay for the treatment out of pocket.”
There are currently many uncertainties that insurance companies cover these COVID treatment options, leaving many patients with the question; “What am I supposed to do now if I test positive?”
Reduced Options and Availability Will Lead to Crowded Hospitals Again
“At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a concentrated effort to keep COVID-positive patients out of the hospitals to ensure we were not overloading our hospital resources.” Ivan continued, “This has led to many urgent care clinics, and private practices, including iCare, to administer these treatments outside of the hospital networks, helping to reduce the spread and impact on the hospital systems.”
The added costs and associated risks of potential insurance denials will ultimately result in these smaller medical practices being unable to afford to stock and administer these life-saving treatment options for their patients. Leaving patients with potentially no other option but to forgo the personal and private care they were receiving and go to a larger healthcare system to request this treatment—assuming they will continue to offer the treatment.
“Our patients appreciate the privacy that home-health care providers like us can provide them…but practices like ours will be forced to rethink our future,” Ivan added. This begs the question, if only the large hospital networks can afford to stock this treatment going forward - are we setting ourselves up for failure, by potentially incentivizing patients to crowd the emergency rooms to receive this treatment?
1.9 Trillion Dollars in “COVID Relief” Spending, But COVID Treatments not Included
In March 2021, Congress passed a 1.9 Trillion Dollar COVID relief package, and in April 2022 the Senate reached a bipartisan agreement to provide an additional $10 Billion in COVID assistance, with nearly $5B intended to purchase monoclonal therapies. These bills were positioned to the American people as funding for vaccines, tests, and monoclonal therapy treatments so they would be provided to all Americans for free regardless of insurance. Yet here we are, not even half a year later and Americans seemingly will be forced to find a way to pay for this treatment - only this time it won’t be out of their tax dollars.
How is it possible that Trillions of dollars were spent in providing “COVID Relief” to Americans, yet we overlooked one of the most critical aspects - affordable COVID treatment?
Help us Make Monoclonal Antibody Treatments Affordable
Disagree with the government’s decision to end funding for monoclonal antibody treatments? Help us get the word out regarding the impact this will have on patients and our healthcare systems - share this on social media and reach out to your local representatives to encourage them to take action in finding ways to reduce the burden on COVID-positive patients.
Have questions? Call iCare Mobile Medicine, available 24 hours 7 days per week 305-701-9901