LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — Pennsylvania continues to add COVID cases at one of the lowest levels of the pandemic.
But recently, pharmacists at The Prescription Center on Cherry Street in Scranton noticed more people coming in for these.
"For the last couple of weeks, I haven't heard about many cases of COVID. As we know, it's still around, but I have noticed in the past couple of days, past week we had a couple of people coming in to get testing," said Mike Ruane, The Prescription Center.
More people coming in at a difficult time.
COVID-19 testing providers have now lost the ability to be reimbursed for tests given to uninsured people.
Testing sites are closing all across the country.
This after Congress stripped $15 billion in COVID-19 money from a government spending bill earlier this month.
"Now that that money has run out, the pharmacies are no longer going to be able to bill insurance companies for uninsured patients to come in. We are still being required to provide service regardless of the insurance status of the patient," said Ruane.
Vaccine claims are also not spared; providers won't be paid for giving vaccines to uninsured people, even though the shots will remain free.
"We've done a lot of vaccines. We've done over 22,000 vaccines here, out of our facility. We had about 1200 who were truly uninsured," said Eric Pusey, Medicap Pharmacy.
And that cost can be crushing for mom-and-pop places like Medicap Pharmacy in Olyphant.
"It costs us at least a minimum of $30 to $35 per shot just with all of the expenses that are incurred," said Pusey.
Right now, the federal government does not have the resources to buy enough booster vaccine doses for all Americans if additional doses are needed.
The White House continues to push Congress, though approval for more funding will need to come with an agreement from Republicans in the Senate, who are against more spending.
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