The Biden administration will nearly double the amount it pays Medicare providers who give COVID-19 vaccines from about $23 to $40, while the shots will continue to be free for all Americans, including those who don’t have insurance.

What You Need To Know

  • The Biden administration will increase the amount it pays providers who give COVID-19 vaccine doses, nearly doubling the reimbursement

  • The move is an effort to increase vaccinations in vulnerable communities by increasing the incentive for providers

  • Vaccines will be 100% covered for those who have insurance through Medicaid and CHIP

  • The US is now vaccinating more than 2.4 million people per day, on average, and more than 100 million have received at least one dose

The move is an effort to reach more vulnerable communities, White House COVID-19 Advisor Andy Slavitt said Monday, since the administration will now pay providers more per shot.

"Medical professionals on the front lines of this vaccination effort need to be taken care of," Slavitt said in a Wednesday briefing, adding: "[The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] determined that an additional level of reimbursement was going to increase vaccination rates, particularly in hard-to-reach communities."

The administration will also cover 100 percent of the cost of the vaccine for people who are covered by Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), another effort to increase health equity.

The vaccine remains free for anyone living in the US who gets it, without the need for insurance or any form of payment. Providers are blocked from charging patients any amount for the vaccine.

The changes in reimbursement were made possible by the COVID-19 relief bill that President Biden signed into law last week, Slavitt said. 

As of Monday, officials said the US was giving 2.4 million doses of vaccine per day, and more than 100 million people have gotten at least one dose.

While the US will have enough supply for all adults by the end of May, President Biden set a tentative goal last week of getting “closer to normal” by the July 4 holiday, as long as vaccinations continue to increase and Americans keep following public health measures.

On Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president’s chief medical adviser, addressed the question of when the US could reach herd immunity, the level at which enough people are protected from the virus that the country is generally safe.

But Dr. Fauci warned that herd immunity is not a clear goal to aim for.

“We should not get so fixated on this elusive number of herd immunity. We should just be concerned about getting as many people vaccinated as quickly as we possibly can,” Fauci said. “And every day that goes by now with more than 2 million doses going into people, we're getting closer and closer to control this pandemic.”

Officials also reiterated the need for Americans to continue practicing vigilance despite warming weather and COVID-19 fatigue, especially to keep pushing the number of cases and deaths down.

“Cases climbed last spring, they climbed again in the summer, they will climb now if we stop taking precautions,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said. “We are just starting to turn the corner.”