Refunds Coming To People Who Received Vaccines In New York State

If you were one of the many who received a vaccine during the state of emergency roll-out during the pandemic, you might have money coming your way.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James has made the announcement that there will be refunds for people who were charged for the vaccine during the pandemic.

Why were people charged?

While the pandemic was at its height, health officials were encouraging everyone to get vaccinated against COVID-19.  Many people did and found out afterward that they were being charged to receive it.

The problem is that the vaccine didn't cost anything to receive.  It was free to everyone.

The Attorney General's office found that Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care (Northwell-GoHealth) clinics had charged hundreds of patients to receive the vaccine.

“During the pandemic state of emergency, COVID-19 vaccines were free to all who wanted them. Clinics should be careful in ensuring that New Yorkers were not improperly charged fees for these vaccines and should take steps to refund any payments wrongfully charged and received. I encourage anyone who believes they may have been billed for a COVID-19 vaccine that was supposed to be free to reach out to my office.” -Attorney General Letitia James

How much will they be getting back?

According to the press release, there were over 700 patients who were billed and some who were sent to collections services due to unpaid bills.  The total amount paid was $14,996.05 in improper fees.  The attorney general is making sure that all that money is repaid to those patients.

Is anything going to happen to Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care?

Northwell-GoHealth was required to refund a total of $14,996.05 to the patients who were improperly charged for vaccine administration.  If this is you, you'll be notified of the refund or the wrongful charge. In addition, the clinics have agreed to strengthen their billing practices to ensure that future COVID-19 vaccine appointments at Northwell-GoHealth clinics do not result in improper charges to patients.