U.S. government to pay for coronavirus vaccine costs

The United States government is planning to pay for a future coronavirus vaccine for all Americans.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services made the announcement on Wednesday and said it will pay for any vaccine authorized or approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

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While the federal government is paying for the vaccine, insurers including Medicare, Medicaid and private plans must cover the cost of administering it.

This is a costly undertaking the agency says. If the 62 million people in the Medicare program got vaccinated it would cost around $2.6 billion.