What is the Role of "Universal Purchasing" in Forcing Vaccine Mandates? #NY friends: "Feasibility Assessment" urban.org/uploadedpdf/412235-Universal-Purchasing.pdf "The goals of universal vaccine purchasing include addressing physicians’ concerns about rising costs for providing immunizations to children and adolescents, maintaining and increasing immunization rates, and supporting continuity of medical care in children’s medical homes." "Nationally, VFC-funded vaccines account for approximately 43 percent of all vaccine purchases. Forty-seven percent of vaccines are purchased by private providers, and the remaining 10 percent are purchased with state funds and Section 317 federal grants received by states8 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007c). The Department of Health and Human Services VFC budget was $2.9 billion in FFY 2007 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008)." "States that fund their universal (or universal select) programs through payments from insurance companies are particularly discouraged from using the federally contracted price...(CDC informants report that this is perceived as using private funds to purchase at discounts set for public programs.)" "Universal vaccine purchasing based on the model utilized by other states will not address concerns about the adequacy of vaccine administration fees; payments that are too low have the potential for large fiscal impact on providers and their willingness to provide vaccinations that might exceed the benefit of free vaccines. Absent policy action, many providers may well continue to feel they are not being adequately covered for the costs associated with administering vaccines. The state should consider various options for increasing reimbursements to providers for vaccine administration fee along with the state supplied vaccine program."
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 01:40:18 +0000