Coronavirus vaccine bills sent in error to some Westmoreland County patients

WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. — Several hundred people who got vaccinated against the coronavirus through Excela Health in Westmoreland County were erroneously billed for the vaccine.

Excela Health released a statement regarding the incident, telling those who received a bill to ignore it.

“We have attempted to contact those patients immediately to inform them to disregard the statement and apologized for the confusion,” Tom Albanesi, Excela Health Chief Financial Officer, said in a statement. “Patients are not responsible for any cost for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, and Excela strongly encourages those who haven’t received the vaccine yet to do so immediately.”

The issue was blamed on the quick implementation of the clinics and the information technology software to perform functions it wasn’t designed to handle

More than 20,000 residents of Westmoreland County were immunized through Excela Health and the majority of those patients were properly processed and didn’t receive a bill.

“We are proud of what we’ve accomplished in helping to contain the spread of the virus in Westmoreland County,” Albanesi said.

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Cox Media Group