older woman about to get a shot from a healthcare worker

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services now will pay healthcare providers, including home health care and hospice, more money to administer COVID-19 vaccines.

Effective Monday, the national payment for the vaccine will increase from $28 for a single dose to $40, CMS said Monday. For vaccines requiring two shots, Medicare will now pay $80 — nearly double the $45 Medicare had been paying.

CMS said the exact payment rate will depend on the type of provider giving the vaccine. 

“This new and higher payment rate will support important actions taken by providers that are designed to increase the number of vaccines they can furnish each day, including establishing new or growing existing vaccination sites, conducting patient outreach and education, and hiring additional staff,” CMS stated in a news release.  

CMS says the rates better reflect the costs involved in administering the vaccine and the additional resources necessary to ensure that the vaccine is delivered safely and appropriately.

Home care providers expressed satisfaction with the rate increase.

“NAHC favors anything that makes the vaccine more accessible to all Americans,” a spokesman for the National Association of Home Care & Hospice told McKnight’s Home Care Daily. 

This article originally appeared on McKnight's Senior Living