Don't let greed win

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control issued a recommendation that adults 60 and older receive the RSV vaccine "using shared clinical decision making" — that is, it is recommended if you and your doctor agree that you should get it.

Even before the vaccine was available, my doctor and I wholeheartedly agreed that it would be a good idea to get the vaccine, which means that the CDC recommends it for me. And since insurers participating in the "Obamacare" Health Insurance Marketplace are required to cover all CDC-recommended vaccines, I assumed — perhaps naively — that Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Wyoming would follow Federal law and cover the vaccine 100%, with no deductible, as it does the flu and COVID vaccines.

However, when I contacted a pharmacy to book an appointment, I discovered that while Medicare gladly covers the vaccine 100%, BCBSWY is flouting the law and endangering Wyoming's seniors by refusing to do so.

If you are 60 or older and have insurance from BCBSWY through the Health Insurance Marketplace (on which they have a monopoly; there is only one other insurer with a tiny fraction of the market), you can expect to pay $160 to as much as $300 unless you have been in extremely poor health and exhausted your out-of-pocket maximum.

All Wyoming residents between 60 and 65 should contact the Wyoming Department of Insurance, as well as the Federal Government's CMS, and ask them to take appropriate action to penalize Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming for its potentially deadly greed and its defiance of Federal law.

BRETT GLASS, Laramie