Kaiser to Waive Payment For COVID-19 Treatment

Kaiser Permanente. Photo by Wendy Osher.

Kaiser Permanente has announced that it will waive all member out-of-pocket costs for the treatment of COVID-19 related inpatient and outpatient services, as of April 1, 2020.

This is intended to alleviate the cost burden and stress of paying for care of impacted members.

“We want our members who need treatment for COVID-19 to be able to focus all their energy on
getting well, not on worrying how to pay for treatment,” said Greg Adams, chairman and CEO of
Kaiser Permanente.

“With the hit to our economy and the job losses our country is going through right now, it’s more important than ever that we don’t allow the cost of treatment to prevent our members from getting the care they need.”

Kaiser Permanente’s elimination of member out-of-pocket costs will apply to all fully insured benefit plans, in all lines of business, in all markets, unless prohibited or modified by law or regulation.

It will apply for all dates of service (admissions) from April 1 through May 31, 2020, unless superseded by government action or extended by Kaiser Permanente. This waiver does not automatically apply to self-funded customers, but Kaiser Permanente will begin contacting all self-funded customers to encourage them to adopt this change.

This waiver has been in effect as of March 19 for Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic members, and will now be available to all members.

Kaiser Permanente previously announced on March 5 that it was waiving all member costs for diagnosis and testing related to COVID-19. On March 21, it suspended individual and group terminations for failure to pay monthly dues through April, to allow members more time to make payments before their coverage would be affected.