Clarify confusion about vaccines against Covid-19

If you want to have vaccination against Covid-19 this fall, will the medical insurance cover it for the employer? There is no clear answer.

The Minister of Health and Humanitarian Services, Robert F. Kennedy Junior, a veteran anti -Fakonas activist, has radically modified the way these vaccines are approved, recommended, and created uncertainty when the coverage was routine.

The agencies within the Ministry of Health and Social Services (HHS) responsible for determining who should be vaccinated is not necessarily synchronous, which issues contradictory recommendations based on ages of age or risk to serious diseases.

But mystery may not affect your coverage, at least this year.

“I think it is in 2025, it is very likely that companies plans to cover vaccinations against Covid-19,” he said. Jeff Levin StrinsPrimary Care Doctor, Population Health Commander at WTW Administration Adviser and Vice Professor of Public Health College of Harvard University.

They have already put the budget, “and this will be a great administrative effort to try to exclude the coverage of those who have no greater risks.”

With many changes, it is important to consult with an employer or insurance company about coverage policies before the shirt rises.

This is what we know yet and what is not yet clear.

How did the recommendations change?

What was simple now is more confused. Last year, modern Covid vaccines and Pfizer-BionNtech Recommend For anyone from 6 months of age.

This year, the recommendation and prevention of diseases control centers (CDC) is more restricted. Although vaccines are widely recommended for adults over 19 years old, not to Healthy pregnant women Ni Barra Healthy and adolescent children From 6 months to 17 years.

Kennedy announced the changes in Video in MayQuoting from Justification Security risks for young men and women.

However, its data has been widely interrogated by experts in vaccines, pediatrics and female health. analysis Factcheck.org He revealed that the secretary “controls scientific research to provide unfounded data about the safety of vaccines for pregnant women and children.”

In addition, the recently announced changes in the framework of vaccine approval have been reduced from eligibility.

The modernity announced on July 10 that the Food and Food Administration (FDA) has fully agreed to its Covid vaccine SpikevaxBut approval is limited to adults over the age of 65 and people between the ages of 6 months and 64 and who have a greater risk of developing a serious condition than Covid.

Two other vaccines are available against Covid expected this autumn, Nuvaxovid From Novavax and Mnexspike Hadith, they also have restrictions. It has been approved for people over the age of 65 and for those between the ages of 12 and 64 and who suffer from the underlying conditions that increase them from the risk of developing severe Covid.

At the present time, Covid vaccine Comprodaty It is still accredited or accredited from 6 months without any restrictions on the basis of Covid’s risk factors.

However, Food and Drug Administration can change this at any time, according to experts. “The increase in restrictions” said, “Certainly the direction they move,” said Jin Kitts, the author of the book “The increase in restrictions”. analysis On the criteria for covering the vaccine insurance.

HHS did not make official comments for this article.

How can these changes affect my coverage of the vaccine?

This is the big question, and the answer is not certain. Without coverage, people can Hundreds of dollars For the vaccine.

Most health plans for law are required to cover the recommended vaccines, whether for Covid, measles or influenza, without imposing fees on them. However, according to the KFF analysis, this requirement comes into effect after a federal committee – the Consultative Committee for Iris -Evance Practices (ACIP) – It recommends vaccines And the adoption of the director of the Disease Control Center.

The committee did not vote on the recommendations of the Covid vaccine for this fall. Your next meeting is expected to be August or September. However, employers and insurance companies can choose vaccine coverage on their own, as many did before the law forced them. However, people can be asked to pay some of their pockets.

In addition, the most restricted recommendations for various HHS agencies may lead to some health plans refuse to push certain groups of people to receive some vaccines, according to experts.

“I don’t think the employer or the insurance company denies the coverage,” Kits said. “But they can say: You must have this product.”

This may mean that a 45 -year -old person without underlying circumstances increases the risk of Covid may have to get a Pfizer vaccine instead of Modern’s if they want to cover their health plan.

In addition, up to 200 million people can qualify for vaccines because they have emotions such as asthma or diabetes, which increases the risk of serious disease, according to what it said. Publishing comment By FDA officials in the New England magazine.

Medical care professionals can help people determine whether they are qualified to vaccine according to their health conditions.

Tina Sto, a spokeswoman for US health insurance plans (AHIP), which represents health plans, announced that the plans will continue to meet federal requirements for vaccine covering.

What are the options of a pregnant woman or children who want to vaccinate?

according to KFF survey Posted on August 1, many parents have doubts about the vaccination of their children. Nearly half of them have confirmed to ignore whether federal agencies recommend that healthy children vaccinate. Among the other half, most of them said that the vaccine is not recommended.

Meanwhile, Kennedy’s recommendation is not to vaccinate health “Joint clinical decisions” It should be covered without shared costs.

Some political experts indicate that, however, this is how children are usually given. “In addition to any condition, vaccines have always been provided with joint decisions,” said Amanda Jizk, Vice President of Public Policy and Government Relations of the Infectious Design Association.

There is no task similar to pregnant people. However, although Kennedy has announced that the vaccines raised against Covid are no longer recommended for healthy pregnant women, the pregnancy is pregnant. One of the medical conditions This lies behind the risk of severe disease from Covid, according to CDC. This can make pregnant women eligible for the vaccine.

Depending on the pregnancy stage, it may be difficult to know if a person’s vaccine should be rejected because of his condition. “This is an unknown area,” said Sabrina Corlette, participating in the Georgetown Health Insurance Reform Center.

How will these changes affect access to the vaccine? Can I continue to go to the pharmacy to vaccinate myself?

“If fewer people are expected to be vaccinated, it will offer less vaccine positions,” said Levin Charsrs. This can be a particularly important obstacle for those looking for doses for children from the Covid vaccine.

In addition, the pharmaceutical authority to manage vaccine depends on several factors. For example, in some states they can manage the vaccines approved by the FDA, while elsewhere, they should be recommended by ACIP, explained by Hana Fish, the first director of the strategic initiatives of the National Society of Society. Since ACIP has not yet recommended vaccines against autumn Covid, this may be an obstacle in some states.

“Based on the rules, it is still possible to get the vaccine in a pharmacy, but they may have to contact the doctor to send a recipe,” Fish explained.

What do these long -term changes mean?

It is impossible to know. But given Kennedy’s sound doubts about the vaccines and their acceptance of the theories that have long been refuting about the relationship between vaccines and autism, among other things, medical and public health specialists are concerned that these opinions affect future policies.

“The changes in the recommendations made regarding pregnant children and women have not necessarily based on a good scientific basis,” Corlette said.

Convincing people who need a Covid vaccine annually represents a challenge, and the changes in instructions may make it more difficult, and some public health experts warn.

“The worrying thing is that this may reduce vaccination against Kovid,” Jizic said.