Bayonne Medical Center mistakenly charges 200+ residents for COVID vaccinations

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Thursday, April 29, 2021
NJ hospital mistakenly charges 200+ residents for COVID shots
Bayonne Medical Center says they sent over 200 people a bill for their COVID vaccinations, despite the federal government providing the vaccine free of charge to all people living in the United States.

BAYONNE, New Jersey (WABC) -- A hospital in New Jersey is involved in a big mix up after mistakenly charging some uninsured residents for their COVID vaccines.

Bayonne Medical Center says they sent over 200 people a bill for their COVID vaccinations, despite the federal government providing the vaccine free of charge to all people living in the United States, regardless of their immigration or health insurance status.

"The third-party vendor mistakenly sent out invoices to a little more than 200 patients which is about 1% of the 22,000 that the CarePoint system vaccinated," CarePoint said in a statement.

Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis called on the hospital to reimburse anyone who was charged for their shots.

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"The hospital should never have sent out such bills. People are not supposed to be charged for the coronavirus vaccinations. We call upon the hospital to reimburse anyone who paid them. Nobody should ever pay for a vaccination shot."

The hospital says it will issue reimbursements to anyone who already paid the bill.

As for the patients who received an invoice but haven't paid it, the hospital says they can ignore the bill.

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