“Like all nursing home workers in New York State, Shikilia Davis is required to get a test for coronavirus twice a week, part of a state order aimed at containing the startling death toll of residents in nursing homes,” Katie Thomas writes for The New York times. “But late last month, Ms. Davis said her employer, Apex Rehabilitation & Healthcare on Long Island, sent her home after she refused to provide her insurance card before getting tested. She said the nursing home wanted to bill her health insurer rather than paying for the test itself, even though Ms. Davis’s insurer has declined to cover the tests. ‘This is a bill I do not want to get stuck with,’ said Ms. Davis, who works as a dietary aide at Apex, where, according to state data, 33 people died or were believed to have died from the virus. She feared that the lab company could hold her responsible for paying the bill once her insurance claim was denied. ‘I don’t have money lying around.’ The dispute over who should pay for worker testing is at the messy heart of a national effort to reduce the virus’s spread in nursing homes by screening workers and residents. It has become a hot-button labor issue for some of the nation’s most poorly paid health care workers.” Katie Thomas, “Testing Nursing Home Workers Can Help Stop Coronavirus. But Who Should Pay?” The New York Times.
Jeanne Pinder is the founder and CEO of ClearHealthCosts. She worked at The New York Times for almost 25 years as a reporter, editor and human resources executive, then volunteered for a buyout and founded... More by Jeanne Pinder
