Save money on vaccines and avoid a surprise bill with this strategy.
Vaccines have been more on people’s minds in recent years, as have horror stories of people receiving surprise bills for what they thought were covered services.
Before the pandemic, there were frequent complaints where people thought their insurance would pay for routine vaccines. They then discovered their insurance decided to not cover any of the cost. For some vaccines, this can be hundreds or thousands of dollars.
On top of this insurance problem, many clinics charge a vaccine administration fee that is not covered by insurance, requiring people to pay $40 or more per shot out of pocket. If you took your kid in for three routine jabs at the same time the clinic would charge you $120 in administration fees you will have to pay out of pocket.
So how do you avoid all of these potential surprise fees? Don’t go to your doctor for vaccines.
Go To Your Local Pharmacy
There are a couple of reasons to use a local pharmacy to save money on vaccines. The main reason is that they will run the vaccine against your insurance before they administer it. The insurance either pays for it or they don’t right there. This eliminates the potential for a very large surprise bill after the fact. Most pharmacies don’t charge a vaccine administration fee. Those that do, typically charge far less than a doctor’s office.
Knowing what you are going to owe before the vaccine is administered so you can choose to not receive it if it isn’t covered has to be the number 1 reason to use a pharmacy. Add in a large amount of convenience and this really is the best option. Most pharmacies are open into the early evening and on weekends so you don’t have to take time off of work. Pharmacies are typically in retail areas or in larger stores so you can accomplish some other errands in the same trip.
You do want to plan ahead. Some pharmacies require a scheduled appointment for a vaccine, but most will now let you do that online. If you need a more obscure vaccine it is worth calling ahead to make sure they have that in stock.
If you don’t have insurance there may be options to cover your vaccines. The CDC has a program to provide vaccines to children under age 18 at no cost if they have a qualifying circumstance such as a lack of insurance.
For adults over 18, check with local community health clinics to see if they can provide you with the needed vaccine at no charge. If you don’t have insurance, annual flu shots are only about $37 through CVS pharmacies. Most other vaccines are significantly cheaper through a pharmacy. If you do have to pay out of pocket for whatever reason a pharmacy is going to cost far less than a clinic.