STAT+: Insurance coverage of vaccines at risk in RFK Jr.’s reshuffling of CDC’s vaccine advisers
The advisers' recommendations help determine whether insurers fully cover the cost of vaccines.
The decision by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to remove and replace all members of the government’s independent vaccine advisory committee doesn’t just change how the nation will approach vaccine policy. It could also take money out of Americans’ wallets.
Right now, anyone with health insurance — adults and children alike — who wants a vaccine that is recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices can get it for free. But if ACIP takes vaccines off its recommended list, or doesn’t give its stamp of approval to a future shot, health insurers would not be obligated to cover it.
That would create serious financial problems for people, researchers and consumer advocates say. Changes to ACIP’s vaccine guidance under Kennedy would not only cost Americans more money if insurers alter their coverage, but could also reduce uptake of vaccines if people can’t afford higher copays or a vaccine’s full list price.
