An NBC 5 investigation raises new questions about whether Tarrant County advanced public health benefits at COVID-19 vaccine clinics.
Records show that the Tarrant County Public Health Department has raised millions of dollars by billing private insurance companies for the administration of COVID vaccines.
But some health advocates fear the practice will scare some people out of county vaccine clinics. In order to bill, the county has been scanning and photocopying ID and insurance cards.
This was explained by many other Texas counties NBC 5 is investigating they didn’t because they feared it would be a barrier to vaccinating people. In fact, among the five largest counties in Texas, Tarrant County was the only county that billed for vaccine administration.
José Sánchez, NBC 5 investigates Anelia Banda, Hispanic Coalition for Welfare.
“If it’s free, why do you need insurance? Why do you need this documentation? said Anelia Banda, who leads the Tarrant County Hispanic Welfare Coalition.
Banda said he believes the county’s identification and insurance application confused some in the Hispanic community who believed they needed insurance to get the shot. And she worries that scanning IDs has scared some recent immigrants, fearful of how their information would be used.
They will not go to a government-related entity to share their information, because they are afraid they may be deported.
Anelia Banda, Hispanic Welfare Coalition of Tarrant County
Currently, the Tarrant County Hispanic vaccination rate is behind other major Texas counties.
Using state vaccine data and the latest census numbers, NBC 5 is investigating it is estimated that only 38% of Hispanics in Tarrant County have received at least one dose of vaccine.
This is less than Dallas County, where 47% of Hispanics have received a dose, and Harris County, Houston, where 50% have received a dose.
Travis and Bexar counties have also seen higher rates: between 45% and 46% of Hispanics have received a dose. Dallas, Harris, Travis and Bexar counties did not scan IDs or secure bills such as Tarrant County.
He explained Dallas County NBC 5 is investigating he believed that “the collection of this information would slow down the in situ process and could deter people from the vaccine.”
Travis County said it chose not to ask for identification or insurance because “it didn’t want to deter anyone from coming.”
Tarrant County Health Director Vinny Taneja said NBC 5 is investigating that the county has always billed insurance for other vaccines and considered that the shot of COVID-19 should be no different.
If we can recover third-party insurance, even a small drop and help them, in my mind, that’s right.
Vinny Taneja, director of the Tarrant County Public Health Department
Taneja said no one without insurance was denied the vaccine. He insisted that his department would never share information with federal immigration officials and does not believe that scanning IDs and billing insurance would cause lower vaccination rates in the Hispanic community.
“We have had many discussions with the community. The biggest response we received was, again, that the vaccine is not FDA approved, ”Taneja said.
Taneja said NBC 5 is investigating he had no doubt that the billing was correct and said he did not even consider whether his department would stop this practice.
José Sánchez, NBC 5 investigates Vinny Taneja, director of the Tarrant County Public Health Department.
“Why would we do that?” Taneja said. “I mean, that’s what we do.”
But in July, the head of Taneja, county administrator GK Maenius, ordered an end to the billing.
In an email on July 14 that NBC 5 is investigating obtained through an open registration application, Taneja told his staff: “Under the direction of the county administrator, TCPH (Tarrant County Public Health) will suspend the collection of insurance / billing information.” The e-mail continued: “An effort is being made to reduce the barriers that could hinder a person’s decision to get vaccinated.”
Taneja said NBC 5 is investigating he followed the order of the county administrator but disagreed.
“It would still be my recommendation to continue the practice because we don’t think it was a barrier,” Taneja said.
Under federal regulations, counties cannot bill insurance for the same COVID-19 vaccine because it is provided free of charge by the federal government. Counties can, however. bill insurance companies for the costs associated with managing the shootings.
NBC 5 is investigating has obtained records showing that Tarrant County has billed private insurance companies nearly $ 8 million in fees to administer COVID-19 vaccines and so far the county has raised nearly $ 3 million of that money.
Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said he initially thought counties should bill the administration of the vaccine. But when he learned that it was not necessary and that other counties were not billing, he contacted the county administrator and asked him to stop him.
When NBC 5 asked Whitley if he wished he had been aware earlier that the county was not required to bill, he replied, “I think if he had been aware of that, we probably would have stopped him sooner.”
José Sánchez, NBC 5 investigates Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley.
But Whitley said he did not believe the billing and identification collection would negatively affect the county’s Hispanic vaccination rate.
“I just don’t see any evidence of that. I think, you know, people can always try to sign you up and send you down a path, ”Whitley said.
Whitley and Taneja said they believed the hesitation came more from the misinformation people read on social media.
Whitley said the millions of dollars the county has raised from insurance companies will be used to vaccinate more people.
But records show that the county did not hurt COVID-19-related funds before it began billing the insurance. In fact, Tarrant County has received more than $ 460 million in COVID-19 grants from state and federal governments, money that other counties took advantage of to operate vaccine clinics without charging insurance.
For example, Harris County told NBC 5 that it has not billed any insurance for any COVID-19-related services because those services are reimbursed through these federal and state funding sources.
NBC News 5 Syra Madad, pandemic response expert.
Pandemic response expert Syra Madad, a former Texas State Department of Health Services official, said if counties are going to bill insurance and analyze ID cards, there should be widespread community messages about how this information will be used.
“Certainly, I think those are barriers when people hear,‘ Okay, well, I don’t have any ID, I don’t have an insurance card, ’” Madad said.
He said removing even perceived barriers is key because achieving higher vaccination rates among all communities is critical to protecting everyone’s health.
We all live in the same community, in the same nation, so it doesn’t matter if you are an immigrant or not. It’s about protecting everyone.
Syra Madad, pandemic response expert
Although Tarrant County has stopped billing, Taneja told us that his staff continues to photocopy ID cards at vaccine clinics. Taneja said they needed this information to register people in the state’s vaccine registration system.
But other large counties have simply asked people for their name and address and looked at their ID cards to verify who they are without copying their IDs.
Banda, the leader of the Hispanic Coalition for Welfare, worries that some will still be scared.
“It just blocks anything you can do with a free service,” Banda said.
Banda points out that there is already distrust of local government in some immigrant communities. In Tarrant County, the sheriff participates in a program where the county jail collaborates with federal authorities to deport undocumented people.
But Tarrant County health officials said NBC 5 is investigating they would never share vaccine-related information with the sheriff or any other police agency.
When asked if he had any complaints about ID collection and billing insurance, Taneja said no and that billing was meant to help protect his department’s finances.
“Not at all. I mean, you know, I learned the way back in a 2009-10 period, when the market and the economy closed. A lot of public health departments got stuck in that.” said Taneja.