Tarrant County Made Millions Billing Insurance For COVID-19 Vaccines – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

An NBC 5 investigation raises new questions about whether Tarrant County is putting profits over public health in COVID-19 vaccination clinics.

Records show the Tarrant County Public Health Department raised millions of dollars by billing private insurance companies for administering COVID vaccines.

But some health advocates fear the practice may frighten some people at county-run vaccination clinics. In order to bill, the county scanned and photocopied ID and insurance cards.

Many other counties in Texas have said NBC 5 investigation they did not do it because they feared it would be an obstacle to vaccinating people. In fact, of the five largest counties in Texas, Tarrant County was the only one that charged for administering vaccines.

Jose Sanchez, NBC 5 investigation

“If it’s free, why do you need insurance? Why do you need this documentation? Said Anelia Banda, who heads the Tarrant County Hispanic Wellness Coalition.

Banda said she believed the county’s demand for identity and insurance had confused some members of the Hispanic community who thought they needed insurance to get vaccinated. And she fears that the digitization of ID has scared some recent immigrants, fearing how their information would be used.

They will not go to an entity linked to the government to share their information because they are afraid of being deported.

Anelia Banda, Tarrant County Hispanic Well-Being Coalition

Tarrant County’s Hispanic vaccination rate currently lags behind other major counties in Texas.

Using state vaccine data and the latest census figures, NBC 5 investigation calculated that only 38% of Hispanics in Tarrant County received at least one dose of the vaccine.

This is less than Dallas County where 47% of Hispanics received a dose and Harris County (Houston) where 50% received a dose.

Travis and Bexar counties also had higher rates – about 45% to 46% of Hispanics received a dose. Dallas, Harris, Travis and Bexar counties did not scan IDs and bill for insurance like Tarrant County.

Dallas County said NBC 5 investigation he believed that “collecting this information would slow down the process there and might discourage people from getting vaccinated.”

Travis County said it chose not to ask for identification or insurance because it “didn’t want to dissuade anyone from coming.”

Tarrant County Health Director Vinny Taneja said NBC 5 investigation that the county has historically billed insurance for other vaccines, and it felt the COVID-19 vaccine shouldn’t be any different.

If we can get third party insurance even a small drop and help with that, in my opinion, that’s the right thing to do.

Vinny Taneja, Director of the Tarrant County Public Health Department

Taneja said no one without insurance has been denied a vaccine. He insisted his department would never share information with federal immigration officials, and he doesn’t believe the scanning of IDs and insurance billing has resulted in lower rates. vaccination in the Hispanic community.

“We had a lot of discussions with the community. The biggest feedback we received was, again, that the vaccine is not approved by the FDA, ”Taneja said.

Taneja said NBC 5 investigation he had no doubts that billing was the right thing to do and said there had not even been consideration as to whether his department would stop the practice.

Jose Sanchez, NBC 5 survey

“Why would we do it?” Taneja said. “I mean, that’s what we do.”

But in July, Taneja’s boss, County Administrator GK Maenius, ordered the billing to end.

In a July 14 email that NBC 5 investigation obtained through an open case request, Taneja told her staff, “In accordance with the county administrator’s directive, TCPH (Tarrant County Public Health) will suspend the collection of insurance information. billing. Is done with the aim of reducing the barriers that may hinder a person’s decision to be vaccinated. “

Taneja said NBC 5 investigation he followed the county administrator’s order but disagreed with it.

“My recommendation would remain that we continue the practice because we don’t think it was a hindrance,” Taneja said.

Under federal rules, counties cannot bill for insurance for the COVID-19 vaccine itself, as it is provided free by the federal government. Counties can, however. bill insurance companies for costs associated with administering injections.

NBC 5 investigation obtained records showing Tarrant County billed private insurance companies nearly $ 8 million in fees for administering COVID-19 vaccines and so far the county has raised nearly $ 3 million dollars of that money.

Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said he initially believed counties should charge for the administration of the vaccine. But when he learned that it wasn’t necessary and that other counties weren’t charging, he contacted the county administrator and asked him to stop it.

When NBC 5 asked Whitley if he would have liked to know sooner that the county was not required to bill, he replied: “I think if I had known we probably would have arrested him sooner. . “

Jose Sanchez, NBC 5 survey

But Whitley said he doesn’t believe billing and collecting identities is having a negative impact on the county’s Hispanic vaccination rate.

“That’s right, I don’t see any evidence of that. I think, you know, people can always try to point you out and send you down a path, ”Whitley said.

Whitley and Taneja said they believed the reluctance to get vaccinated was more from the misinformation people read on social media.

Whitley said the millions of dollars the county has raised from insurance companies will be used to get more people vaccinated.

But records show the county was not suffering from COVID-19 related funds before it started billing for insurance. In fact, Tarrant County has received more than $ 460 million in COVID-19 assistance from state and federal governments, money that other counties have used to operate vaccination clinics without charging. insurance.

For example, Harris County told NBC 5 that it has not billed insurance for any services related to COVID-19 because those services are reimbursed by these federal and state funding sources.

NBC 5 News

Pandemic response expert Syra Madad, a former Texas State Department health services official, said if counties charge insurance and scan ID cards, there should be a broad dissemination of community messages on how this information will be used.

“Granted, I think those are barriers when people hear, ‘OK, well, I don’t have ID, I don’t have an insurance card,’ Madad said.

She said it is essential to remove even perceived barriers, as achieving higher immunization rates in all communities is essential to protect the health of all.

We all live in the same community, in the same nation, so it doesn’t matter if you are an immigrant or not. It’s about protecting everyone.

Syra Madad, pandemic response expert

Even though Tarrant County stopped billing, Taneja told us their staff continued to photocopy ID cards at immunization clinics. Taneja said they need this information to register people in the state’s vaccine registration system.

But other large counties simply asked people for their name and address and examined their ID cards to verify who they were without copying their IDs.

Banda, the leader of the Hispanic Wellness Coalition, worries some are still scared.

“It blocks all the good you can do with a free service,” Banda said.

Banda points out that there is already mistrust of local government in some immigrant communities. In Tarrant County, the sheriff is participating in a program where the county jail cooperates with federal authorities to deport undocumented migrants.

But Tarrant County health officials said NBC 5 investigation they would never share vaccine-related information with the sheriff or any other law enforcement agency.

When asked if he had any regrets about collecting IDs and billing insurance, Taneja said no and the billing was meant to protect his department’s finances.

“Not at all. I mean, you know, I learned the hard way in 2009-2010 when the market and the economy kind of fell. A lot of public health departments got caught up in that. trap, ”Taneja said.