Insurance may no longer fully cover COVID-19 treatment, leaving you with out-of-pocket costs

COVID-19 has affected nearly every aspect of our lives over the last year. Now, it’s about to leave a lot of people with unexpected medical bills.

But knowledge is key to avoid the sticker shock of a massive bill.

At the start of the pandemic, many insurance companies were waiving all out-of-pocket costs related to hospital stays from COVID-19, but that’s no longer the case.

Now, it’s going to work like any other procedure or treatment you would get. You are responsible for deductibles, co-pays, and co-insurance.

Insurance will pay for all the treatment related to COVID-19, only after you’ve paid your cost-sharing amount.

So, go take a look at your insurance policy and find the words out of pocket maximum – that’s what you can expect to pay.

Depending on what your plan looks like, those costs can be as high as $17,000.

Jon Hess from Athos Health says seniors on Medicare really need to pay close attention to this change. Especially if they don’t also carry a Medicare Advantage plan that covers out-of-pocket costs.

Hess says, if you are on an employer-sponsored plan and get an unexpected bill, you can try talking to your company’s HR department to see if they can work something out with the insurance company.

Other medical advocates say you should also ask the hospital to consider waiving your costs since so much federal funding has been doled out to treat COVID-19.