Amid growing concern about Americans’ access to vaccines, the country’s biggest health insurance association said its member plans will continue to cover all shots recommended by a federal advisory committee prior to any changes by its new slate of appointees.
America’s Health Insurance Plans’ announcement comes just ahead of the first meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ 12 members handpicked by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The selection of the five newest members was announced Monday, and their meeting is Thursday and Friday. Experts have speculated that, among other steps, the panel will drop the existing recommendation that newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine, a move that could lead to a resurgence of the virus and, as a result, liver disease and cancer.
“Health plan coverage decisions for immunizations are grounded in each plan’s ongoing, rigorous review of scientific and clinical evidence, and continual evaluation of multiple sources of data,” AHIP said.
AHIP said its plans will cover all vaccines recommended by ACIP as of Sept. 1, 2025, and that there would be no cost sharing for patients through the end of 2026. That includes updated Covid-19 and influenza vaccines. Health insurers are required to make vaccines free if they are recommended by ACIP and adopted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but AHIP’s pledge ensures coverage will continue even if the new members change the panel’s recommendations.
The pledge is significant because of the sheer size of AHIP’s member plans, which together provide coverage and services to over 200 million Americans. They include over a dozen Blues plans, Centene, Aetna, Elevance, Humana, Kaiser Permanente, Molina, and Cigna.
UnitedHealthcare, the country’s largest health insurer, is not an AHIP member. The company did not immediately respond when asked about its vaccine coverage plans.
Amy Killelea, an assistant research professor at Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms, said AHIP’s announcement is important because it preserves access in the face of volatility.
“I think it’s very much a calming of the anxiety and fear out there, to say, ‘We are not going to do anything on a whim, we are not going to make massive changes at this time. We are going to hold steady to the evidence base that’s been in place, that’s been reviewed by ACIP not very long ago,’” Killelea said.
Kennedy shocked the public health world in June by firing all 17 members of ACIP, a panel of experts that advises the CDC, and then quickly naming eight new members, one of whom has since dropped out. Those members, as well as the five new ones announced Monday, include well-known vaccine critics and people with little or no vaccine expertise.
Kennedy’s ACIP first met in June, but the group did not make major changes to vaccine recommendations for children or adults.
At the meeting in Atlanta this week, in addition to considering the hepatitis B vaccine, the group will make recommendations related to Covid-19 shots and the pediatric vaccine schedule.
Many people have struggled to get Covid-19 vaccinations since Kennedy announced in May that they were no longer recommended for healthy children over 6 months old and healthy pregnant people. The panel’s existing recommendations include Covid-19 vaccinations for all adults and children over 6 months old, but with “shared clinical decision-making,” meaning they’re eligible with a doctor’s approval.
Any changes ACIP makes would need to be approved by the CDC’s acting director, Jim O’Neill. Kennedy ousted the agency’s previous director, Susan Monarez, after she refused his demand that she later approve all of ACIP’s recommendations.
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