News that U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is making changes to how vaccines are approved could mean higher costs for what Americans pay for seasonal flu shots, childhood vaccinations and other vaccines to prevent illness.
Kennedy, who has a history of hostility toward vaccines and has promoted conspiracy theories, earlier this week took the unprecedented step of removing all 17 members of the influential Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP.
ACIP’s recommendations are critical in deciding whether millions of Americans receive vaccines at no cost to them as part of their private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid coverage. The panel’s recommendations are taken into consideration by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director, or HHS Secretary, who “can choose not to adopt an ACIP recommendation, to modify it, or to make their own recommendations and, in most, but not all cases, the HHS decision ultimately determines whether coverage is required,” KFF said in an analysis released Friday.
“Almost all payers are required to cover recommended vaccines at no-cost,” Jennifer Kates, KFF’s senior vice president and director of global health & HIV policy wrote in the analysis. “If ACIP or CDC vaccine recommendations were to be narrowed or removed, as was recently done in the case of COVID-19, most payers would no longer be required to provide no-cost coverage.”
Kennedy has begun to appoint replacements for the 17 members he removed, but public health experts and physicians are concerned. The American Medical Association, for example, issued a rare rebuke of a sitting HHS Secretary regarding Kennedy’s actions toward ACIP during the AMA’s annual House of Delegates meeting earlier this week in Chicago.
Kennedy began appointing new ACIP members, including some who have “criticized vaccines and spread misinformation,” the Associated Press reported. These new members drew even more criticism.
“The AMA is deeply concerned to learn that new members have already been selected for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) without transparency and proper vetting to ensure they have the expertise necessary to make vaccine recommendations to protect the health of Americans,” AMA president Dr. Bobby Mukkamala said. “We urge the (Trump) administration to reconsider the removal of the 17 ACIP members who have deep expertise in vaccines so physicians can continue to have confidence in ACIP’s recommendations, which have for decades helped them make recommendations to patients about vaccination. We will closely monitor the developments of ACIP and encourage the Administration to recommit to maintaining vaccine access for all Americans.”
