For two decades, Washington, D.C., pediatrician Lanre Falusi has counseled parents about vaccine safety, side effects and timing. But this year, she said, the conversations have changed.
“For the first time, I’m having parents of newborns ask me if their baby will still be able to get vaccines,” Falusi said.
Throughout the U.S., pediatricians say anxious parents are concerned about access to routine childhood immunizations.
That’s especially true for those with children covered by Medicaid, the government insurance program for low-income families and people with disabilities. Medicaid covers 4 in 10 children in the United States.
“It really became an issue when RFK Jr. stepped into the role of HHS secretary,” said Deborah Greenhouse, a pediatrician in South Carolina.
The concern accelerated after the shake-up of a key Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine advisory body in June, raising fears that millions of American families could soon have to pay out of pocket for shots now covered by their health insurance.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist, removed all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the panel responsible for recommending which shots are included in the nation’s adult and childhood immunization schedules.
Kennedy replaced the panelists with new members aligned with his views, prompting alarm among medical professionals and public health experts.
Insurance uncertainty worries parents
“People should be worried about what’s going to happen to the availability of vaccines for children,” said Jennifer Tolbert, deputy director of the Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured at KFF, a national health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News.
Under the Affordable Care Act, health insurers are required to cover all ACIP-recommended vaccines.