CareCube, a chain of clinics that improperly charged patients for COVID-19 tests during the pandemic, is being ordered to mail out refund checks for the full amount billed, plus 9% interest.
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the refunds on Thursday as part of a settlement with the state. As part of the deal, the company will also have to pay $300,000 in penalties.
Most patients were entitled to free tests due to the federal state of emergency for COVID-19, which started in March 2020. Once the federal declaration lapsed in May, it became up to each insurer to decide whether to continue to cover the full cost of a test.
Throughout the emergency period, some CareCube patients received bills of more than $100 for tests that were supposed to be fully covered – a phenomenon the news outlet The City first reported in August 2021. According to the attorney general’s announcement, the company charged $125 to test patients under 18 and provided patients with inaccurate information about billing.
Anyone improperly billed for a COVID-19 test by CareCube between March 2020 and July 2023 is eligible for the refunds.
“CareCube created unnecessary financial burdens for many New Yorkers who were trying to stay safe and healthy at the height of the pandemic,” James said in a statement.
Under the new agreement, the company must hire an auditor to determine which patients qualify for reimbursement. It will likely take about two months before checks get mailed out, estimated Halimah Elmariah, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office.
At one point during the pandemic, CareCube operated more than 20 testing sites in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, according to the attorney general. That number has since shrunk to just five locations in Brooklyn and the Bronx.
CareCube wasn’t the only company to try to bill patients for COVID-19 tests that were supposed to be free. CityMD began sending patients bills for COVID-19 tests in June 2022 — in some…
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