artiejr: My thanks.
My employer, for retired insurance, covers very little "preventive medicine", would rather pay the hospital bills, doctor's bills, and ICU bills. They don't pay for funeral bills. Then they bitch about the cost of our insurance after the Legislature underfunded the trust fund so they could use the money for Pork. And that was when we were awash in oil money, which we aren't now. Go figure.
However, they have made exception during Covid, for Covid tests and shots. A few other shots are now being covered, during Covid.
We are retired, on Medicare as primary, and my understanding is Medicare paid for the Covid shots.
2 reasons to worry. This increase of "preventive medicine" is related to Covid. At "Townhalls" and in printed material, the employer (State of AK), indicated it is temporary. Also, they just hemmed and hawed when asked if Covid shot would be continued to be covered. Also, the Governor refuges to extend the State of Emergency, and so did the Legislature that he dumped the responsibility on. (Never use a preposition to end a sentence with). The headlines were about the fear of the hospitals that they won't be able to get the finacial help they need for this, especially the smaller ones. We are at ICU capacity in the big city, I believe, and this state has many rural residents without Docs, Nurses, much less clinic or hospitals, and Anchorage is were they get medivaced to. We have little capacity left in our local smaller hospitals, in my area. Plus, they are treating patients in the regular wards that don't need ICU care.
Other states either never declared Emergency, or have let it lapsed.
Our medical system is broken.
Scary. Our tax dollars at work.
