Democratic Health Committee Leaders to Insurers: Protect Vaccine Coverage
“Evidence shows that even modest cost-sharing deters patients from accessing care and exposure to cost-sharing reduces the use of preventive care. Disruptions in coverage could roll back the significant health care gains that have been made under the ACA and put lifesaving vaccinations out-of-reach for millions of Americans.”
WASHINGTON — Today, top Democrats on House and Senate health committees wrote to America’s largest health insurers and associations, raising serious concerns following Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ’s unprecedented attacks on access to vaccines, including undermining the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
The letters were signed by House Education and Workforce Committee Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA), House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard E. Neal (D-MA), as well as Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR).
“We write with serious concerns regarding access to vaccines for Americans with private health insurance,” the Democratic Committee leaders wrote. “Secretary Kennedy’s actions threaten the stability of our nation’s immunization infrastructure, and threaten Americans’ access to all vaccines. Secretary Kennedy has already recklessly sidestepped ACIP by removing COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for pregnant women and children, and has made clear that he intends to examine all current ACIP recommended vaccines in the future, including all routine pediatric vaccines.”
The Democratic Committee leaders requested information regarding whether the health insurance companies will continue to cover all routine immunizations without cost-sharing and have a plan in place to continue coverage of evidence-based vaccines if the newly constituted ACIP continues down the path of making unscientific or non-evidence-based decisions.
“It is critical that you maintain uninterrupted vaccine coverage for your enrollees and we want to ensure that you have a process in place to do just that,” the Democrats continued in their letters to health insurance companies.
As part of their inquiry, the Democratic Committee leaders requested answers to a series of questions, including:
- Notify us whether your company will continue to cover all vaccines recommended by ACIP as of October 2024 without cost-sharing.
- Notify us whether your company will continue to cover vaccines that ACIP subjects to shared clinical decision-making in the same manner as routine vaccinations. Please describe any differences in coverage and/or cost-sharing that beneficiaries may experience if a vaccine is subject to shared clinical decision-making versus a routine recommendation from ACIP.
- Notify us whether your company will continue to cover COVID-19 vaccinations for children and pregnant women without cost-sharing.
- What process will you follow to evaluate future decisions by ACIP to rescind recommendations for currently recommended vaccines, such as routine childhood vaccinations? What process will you follow to make coverage decisions if ACIP’s decisions are out of step with the broad consensus of the scientific and medical community?
- How will your company work with professional societies to ensure that vaccine coverage and cost-sharing is informed by scientific evidence, particularly in cases where ACIP weakens or rescinds current vaccine recommendations?
Read the full letters below:
- Alliance of Community Health Plans
- America's Health Insurance Plans
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
- Centene Corporation
- Cigna Healthcare
- CVS Health Corporation
- Elevance Health, Inc.
- Humana Inc.
- Molina Healthcare
- UnitedHealth Group
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