Health leaders are anticipating that the COVID-19 pandemic is waning, and the majority of payers are reinstating cost-sharing policies that were waived for much of the pandemic, according to the Star Tribune.
A Dec. 9 report from Fitch Ratings said that insurers would shift toward market stability as the pandemic began to subside. Part of this would include the return of cost-sharing for COVID-19 patients.
Now, only a "relative handful of insurers" were still waiving cost sharing at the end of 2021, and the number continues to shrink, Cynthia Cox, a vice president at the California-based Kaiser Family Foundation, told the Star Tribune.
"The issue of cost-sharing during the pandemic raises questions about fairness," Ms. Cox told the Star Tribune. "On one hand, if so many people are susceptible to a potentially serious viral infection, is it fair for insurers to make patients face a deductible? On the other hand, why should a cancer patient have to pay their deductible if a COVID-19 patient doesn't?"
Sayeh Nikpay, PhD, a health economist at the University of Minnesota, told the Star Tribune that continuing to help members pay for COVID-19 care despite the widespread increase in access to vaccines and tests could create a "moral hazard" that may enable members to dismiss getting vaccinated.
However, Dr. Nikpay said that the policies will also negatively affect those who get severely ill with COVID-19 despite taking precautions.
Minnetonka, Minn.-based nonprofit payer Medica reported $83 million in COVID-19-related spending between October 2020 and September 2021, according to the Star Tribune. The payer reinstated cost-sharing Oct. 1 following an increase in the availability of vaccines.
However, among the six other nonprofit insurers in Minnesota, each is taking a different approach to cost sharing for Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries they serve.