Your questions, answered "If the coronavirus vaccine is free of cost for everyone in the United States, why did they need my medical insurance card?" — Kristin in Missouri Yes, the three coronavirus vaccines authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration are free for anyone living in the United States, regardless of health insurance or immigration status. That means individuals are eligible to get a vaccine at no cost to them no matter which insurance provider they have, including Medicare and Medicaid, or whether they have coverage at all. The vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, have already been paid for by the federal government, using taxpayer dollars. So why were you asked to show your health insurance card? Vaccine providers, such as hospitals and pharmacies, may still request health insurance information because providers participating in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccination program are allowed to bill the federal government or private insurance companies to recoup administration fees. After all, it does cost money to hire people to schedule appointments, collect patient information and give the injections. But individuals should never see a bill, unless of course a patient received the vaccine during a medical appointment for something else. In that case, the patient might be billed for services related to the other thing — such as an examination, diagnostic testing or treatment — but not for the coronavirus shot. All of that said, there have been some instances in which people were wrongly asked to pay. The CDC warns against providing personal or financial information to anyone who tries to charge you for the vaccines, administration costs, office visits, copays or coinsurance or any other fees. On the off chance that you do get a bill in the mail, "don't pay it," Cynthia Cox, vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation, wrote in an email to The Washington Post. "Instead, call the provider or your insurer and explain that you should not have been billed," she said. | 
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