California on Monday released details of its $15 million contract with insurer Blue Shield, which was picked to run California's new centralized vaccine delivery system. Blue Shield will be responsible for developing incentive payment criteria for providers and algorithms to allocate vaccines and prioritize appointments.
Its job is to manage the provider network so it hits certain benchmarks, such as making sure vaccines are available for 95% of people within a half-hour drive in urban areas and one-hour drive in rural areas.
It will also be charged with hitting a monthly vaccine percentage — to be determined by the state — for people in under-resourced populations. The contract calls for 3 million doses to be administered statewide each week by March 1 and 4 million by the end of April, although that includes federal vaccinations and is subject to supply.
Blue Shield will not be reimbursed for staff time, but the $15 million is expected for out-of-pocket costs the insurer may incur, such as consultants, equipment and lawyers. The full list of reimbursable costs is still being developed, according to the contract.
California continues to see lower rates of new coronavirus infections and hospitalizations, although deaths are falling more slowly. The state on Monday reported another 200 deaths, bringing the total since the outbreak began to more than 47,000 — the highest in the nation. The state also reported nearly 6,500 new cases, bringing the total number of recorded coronavirus infections to 3.4 million.
—Janie Har, Associated Press