Pennsylvania lawmakers are worried about the growing power of vaccine skeptics who have landed important federal public health roles, and they’re looking to make sure life-saving immunizations remain accessible despite these ideological shifts.
Rep. Arvind Venkat, an Allegheny County physician, has proposed requiring private insurers and the Medicaid program to cover vaccines that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration and recommended by professional medical societies.
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He says the measure would prevent lapses in insurance coverage for these shots, even if key advisers in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention change their vaccine recommendations.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a known vaccine skeptic, recently overhauled the CDC advisory panel that sets vaccine recommendations and guides which immunizations Medicaid will cover. States also often look to the panel, the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, as they’re developing public school vaccine requirements.
Several weeks ago, Kennedy fired all 17 ACIP members and replaced them with his own appointees, many of whom have expressed reservations about vaccine safety or efficacy.
Venkat’s forthcoming legislation would protect Pennsylvanians’ health if the panel members “fail to recognize established scientific evidence and either restrict or withdraw their recommendation for existing FDA-approved vaccines in immunization schedules,” the Democrat wrote in his recent bill memo.
The proposal would mandate health coverage for vaccines recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians or the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Gov. Josh Shapiro has also voiced concern about how the reconstituted ACIP might impact public health and Pennsylvania’s economy, since several vaccine manufacturers operate in the commonwealth.
“Health care in the United States and in Pennsylvania must be rooted in science,” Shapiro said in a statement. “And my administration is urging the CDC and Secretary Kennedy to promptly approve vaccine recommendations this summer so we can be prepared for the next flu season this fall.”
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Bethany Rodgers is a USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania investigative journalist.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: PA lawmaker pushes to protect insurance coverage for vaccines
