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Law360 (May 18, 2021, 6:22 PM EDT) -- Officials in California and the federal government are reminding providers doling out the COVID-19 vaccine that they can't charge patients for their jabs, with the Golden State's Attorney General saying some individuals have said they have had to fork over up to $45 to get the shot.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California Phillip A. Talbert and California Attorney General Rob Bonta all sent out a public reminder that individuals don't have to pay anything to get their COVID-19 vaccines.
The officials said that they have told providers that they can't ask any patient to pay for the vaccine.
As for Bonta, he said his office has gotten "credible allegations that providers have charged patients as much as $45 in out-of-pocket fees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine."
The officials said that those providing the COVID-19 vaccine have to give out doses no matter if the patient can pay or not.
Even though those providers can ask the government or private health plans for reimbursement costs, they cannot ask patients to shoulder those costs, according to the officials.
If Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID-19 Vaccination Program-participating providers aren't in compliance with the program's billing requirements, they could risk being kicked out of the program or even possible criminal penalties, according to officials.
"Charging people to get the COVID-19 vaccine or denying people from getting the vaccine if they cannot pay is a risk to public health and safety, and disproportionately impacts at-risk communities and communities of limited means," Talbert said in a statement. "This violation of the terms and conditions of CDC's vaccination program is also a potential violation of the civil False Claims Act and other civil and criminal statutes.
The Monday reminder came less than two months after the U.S. Department of Justice announced it has charged hundreds of people so far in relation to more than $569 million in allegedly fraudulent claims made under COVID-19 relief programs.
Whistleblower FCA cases, which are filed under seal, are likely to start emerging into the open soon. FCA attorneys told Law360 in December that a wave of FCA cases typically follows any sort of large government spending program, with cases often springing into public view a year to 18 months after spending begins.
The DOJ has also gone after COVID-19-related fraud schemes that target consumers, such as fake purported cures for the virus, filing "dozens" of related criminal and civil enforcement actions and shutting down of hundreds of websites facilitating these scams so far, it has said.
--Additional reporting by Daniel Wilson. Editing by Amy Rowe.
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