New York state Attorney General Letitia James has announced that her office has secured full refunds for hundreds of New Yorkers who were wrongfully billed for Covid-19 vaccines by Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care (Northwell-GoHealth) clinics, which include locations in Dobbs Ferry, New Rochelle, Tarrytown and Yorktown Heights.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that Northwell-GoHealth wrongly charged up to 731 patients for Covid-19 vaccines, resulting in patients paying a total of $14,996.05 in improper fees. Northwell-GoHealth also sent 72 unpaid bills for Covid-19 vaccines to collections. As a result of the agreement announced today, Northwell-GoHealth has reimbursed all New Yorkers who were wrongly charged, will strengthen employee compliance with applicable laws for Covid-19 vaccine billing and will pay a $25,000 penalty.
“During the pandemic state of emergency, Covid-19 vaccines were free to all who wanted them,” James said in a statement. “Clinics should be careful in ensuring that New Yorkers were not improperly charged fees for these vaccines and should take steps to refund any payments wrongfully charged and received. I encourage anyone who believes (he or she) may have been billed for a Covid-19 vaccine that was supposed to be free to reach out to my office.”
If New Yorkers are aware of providers improperly charging consumers a fee for the Covid-19 vaccine, they should submit a complaint to OAG’s Health Care Bureau or call 1-800-428-9071.
