On December 18, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an Emergency Use Authorization for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. The following day, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an interim recommendation for use of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in persons aged 18 years or older for the prevention of COVID-19.
Previously, on December 11, 2020, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was authorized by the FDA and recommended by ACIP for use in persons aged 16 years or older for the prevention of COVID-19.1
In accordance with interim final regulations issued in October2 by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury, non-grandfathered group health plans must cover qualifying COVID-19 preventive services, including any vaccine and its administration, without cost sharing, within 15 business days of a recommendation from the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) or the ACIP.
The ACIP’s recommendation started the 15-business-day period, meaning that non-grandfathered group health plans must begin to cover the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine with no cost sharing by January 5, 2021, and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine with no cost sharing by January 12, 2021.
Endnotes
1 See “COVID-19 vaccine added to preventive care guidelines,” Insider, December 2020.
2 See “Regulations on COVID-19 vaccine and testing requirements issued,” Insider, November 2020.
