Who pays for immunizations?

[BabyPsychDoc]

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Greetings,

I have an odd question. I am currently training in General Practice in the UK, where the government-funded NHS provides all healthcare, including immunizations, obviously. I know that there are regional programmes in the US that cover antenatal care for women who cannot afford it. Is there a government-funded programme that pays for childhood immunizations in the US? Is it means-tested? Do you have to enrol in some way, or is there just a walk-in clinic where you can bring your kid and have him/her immunized?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

 

[Freibi]

There are government sponsored programs (administrated by the states, e.g. under S-CHIP) that allow low income parents to enrol their children in a kind of health insurance, with which they can then go to a provider and get services, including immunizations.
Many people in my town bring their kids to the Public Health Department to get immunizations, because they give them much cheaper than clinics do; however, there is a certain fee involved for certain vaccines (just google any city's/county's public health department and see if they have an online list of fees or free services).
Many school districts or even entire states mandate that students have had certain immunizations, but parents can opt out if they object to vaccinations. They may have to sign a form that they do object and do so in full understanding of the risks.

 

[bjackrian]

Many school districts or even entire states mandate that students have had certain immunizations, but parents can opt out if they object to vaccinations. They may have to sign a form that they do object and do so in full understanding of the risks.

This actually varies by state. Currently in two states (West Virginia and Mississippi), only medical exemptions from vaccination are allowed. In 28 states, medical or religious vaccine exemptions are allowed (though in practice, some physicians and other health care providers will sign medical or religious exemptions for children whose parents have personal objections to vaccine policy). In 20 states, medical, religious, and personal exemptions are allowed.

 

[BabyPsychDoc]

Wow! Thank you for the info - quite a bit different from the UK system.

 

[Complications]

Wow! Thank you for the info - quite a bit different from the UK system.

Vaccine financing is actually quite compicated.

For low-income families most of the funding comes from a program called Vaccines for Children, not Medicaid or SCHIP directly.

You can google the program, the first thing that comes up is the CDC website with an explanation: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/vfc/default.htm.

Private insurers also pay for vaccines here.

There are some complexities to the finance systems as well. There are some state programs which cover vaccines. Over the last 10 years the amout and cost of vaccines recommended for children in the US has risen exponentially. For the low income VFC pays for them, for middle and upper class families their private insurance covers it. There are a growing number of underinsured families who do not qualify for a government program to pay for vaccines, have insurance, but no one with good vaccine coverage. There have been a few articles recently (last summer) about the issue, one that comes to mind is a JAMA artice from, I think, July.