EAST PROVIDENCE, RI - U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) today joined Dr. Elizabeth Lange, a pediatrician and President of the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Dr. David Gifford, Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, at Coastal Medical/Waterman Pediatrics in East Providence to announce over $800,000 in federal funding for Rhode Island to expand immunization services across the state. During the press conference, Reed unveiled his Immunization Improvement Act of 2009 which would allow states to purchase vaccines at lower costs and require Medicare and Medicaid to cover all federally recommended vaccines. The bill also seeks to require private insurers to offer this basic benefit.

Routine childhood immunizations prevent over 14 million individual cases of disease and over 33,500 deaths over the lifetime of children born in any given year. And for every dollar invested in providing the federally recommended pediatric vaccines, taxpayers save $16.50 in direct and indirect costs, which results in billions of dollars in savings.

"I am pleased to have helped secure over $800,000 in Recovery Act funding for Rhode Island so that more kids and adults can get immunized. Vaccinations are critical to protecting us against harmful viruses and preventing the spread of infectious diseases. These funds will help the state pay for routinely recommended vaccines to protect more Rhode Islanders," said Reed, a senior member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. "Each year, vaccine-preventable diseases cause the deaths of more than 42,000 people and hundreds of thousands of cases of illness. My bill would remove barriers to immunization by expanding coverage to include all routine vaccines and eliminating cost-sharing to make them more affordable."

Rhode Island is a national leader in childhood immunization efforts. The state led the country in the percentage of children between the ages of 6 months and 23 months who were inoculated with influenza vaccine during the 2007-2008 flu season.

However on the national level, significant and persistent gaps in public and private health insurance coverage of immunizations remain. Approximately 11% of young children and 21% of adolescents are underinsured for immunizations. Nearly two-thirds of adults are underinsured and 17% have no insurance coverage for immunizations. And despite recent gains in infant immunization coverage, more than 20% of the nation's 2-year-olds are not fully immunized against infectious diseases to which they are especially vulnerable.

"The pediatricians of Rhode Island truly appreciate Senator Reed's support of immunizations. It is only with a comprehensive vaccination program that we are able to continue to protect our state's citizens against the diseases that still exist in our society, diseases like measles, meningitis, pneumonia, whooping cough, chicken pox, and seasonal flu. These are serious diseases which can cause significant illness in children and adults, so it is important that we all are up-to-date in receiving preventative vaccines. With this legislation, Senator Reed has made vaccines more accessible to Rhode Islanders, thus improving the health of our state," said Dr. Lange.

The Center for Disease Control recently submitted a report to Congress estimating that $1.6 billion is needed to provide recommended vaccines to eligible populations nationwide. Senator Reed, a member of the Appropriations Committee, was joined by his colleagues today in requesting over $800 million for fiscal year 2010, nearly $250 million more than the funding provided last year.

"The health care reform debate provides us with the opportunity to eliminate obstacles like lack of insurance and high cost-sharing. We must shift to a system that will make routine preventive care, like immunizations, accessible to all working families," concluded Reed.

The Immunization Improvement Act (S. 1003) has been endorsed by the American Public Health Association; the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials; Children's Defense Fund; Every Child By Two; First Focus; and Partnership for Prevention.

Specifically, the bill would:

Authorize states to purchase adult vaccines under CDC contracts. Current CDC contracts for adult vaccines provide savings that range from 23-69% compared to the private sector cost, and relieve states of the burden of having to negotiate their own contracts. These savings allow for the purchase of more vaccines and coverage of more adults.

Authorize a demonstration program to improve immunization coverage. Under this program, CDC will provide grants to states to improve immunization coverage of children, adolescents, and adults through the use of evidence-based interventions. States may use funds to implement interventions that are recommended by the Task Force on Community Preventive Services, such as reminders or recalls for patients or providers, assessments and referrals for participants of public programs, or home visits.

Expand Medicare coverage of recommended immunizations under Part B. Medicare covers influenza, pneumonia, and hepatitis B vaccines under Part B. Other preventive vaccines are eligible for coverage under Part D's prescription drug plans (PDPs). However, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has found that PDPs cover few vaccines, and that physicians have no direct way of billing PDPs. As recommended by MedPAC, the legislation would cover immunizations recommended for routine use by ACIP under Part B.

Expand Medicaid coverage of recommended adult immunizations. The Vaccines for Children program provides immunizations to children who are eligible for Medicaid. The bill provides for Medicaid coverage of adult immunizations that are recommended for routine use by ACIP, and prohibits cost-sharing for such immunizations.

Provide reimbursement for vaccine administration under Medicaid. In addition to covering the cost of vaccines, Medicaid provides reimbursement for their administration. However, the maximum allowable fees for vaccine administration were set in 1994 and have not been updated since. As recommended by the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC), the bill requires CMS and CDC to review and update the maximum allowable fees and to publish and update the actual fees for vaccine administration paid by each state. In addition, as recommended by NVAC, the legislation provides reimbursement for vaccine administration to children who are eligible for the Vaccines for Children program but not for Medicaid, including uninsured and underinsured children.

Seek to reform private health insurance coverage. The legislation requires health plans in the group and individual markets to cover immunizations that are recommended for routine use by ACIP, without any cost-sharing. This provision does not apply to collective bargaining agreements and does not become effective until universal coverage is achieved under health reform legislation.

Improve Immunization Information Systems. The legislation clarifies that funding for health IT under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act can be used to improve and expand immunization registries.