Thread by @NickWallaceDC

H.R. 2347, the Strengthening the Vaccines for Children Program Act of 2021, would be a HUGE win for kids.
This bipartisan legislation introduced by @RepKimSchrier @RepJohnJoyce @GKButterfield @RepMcKinley would improve childhood vaccinations.

A thread. (1/13) #AAPAdvocacy2021

The Vaccines for Children program (VFC) provides federally purchased vaccines for half of all children, including uninsured/underinsured or those enrolled in Medicaid. Since it's inception, VFC has been tremendously successful in helping to improve childhood vaccinations. (2/13)

However, the program needs improvement. Barriers like historically low payment rates combined with burdensome administrative requirements related to vaccine storage, refrigeration, and monitoring can sometimes dissuade practices from enrolling in VFC. (3/13)

COVID-19 has only exacerbated these barriers. Pediatricians have faced serious financial challenges during the pandemic. @commonwealthfnd finds that while outpatient visits for most specialties have returned, pediatrics still lags behind 27%. (4/13)
infogram.com/the-impact-of-…

We know there is a strong relationship between physician payment and patients' access to care. The dramatic drop in revenue compounded with higher costs may force practices to consider reducing the number of Medicaid patients they see or dropping out of VFC altogether. (5/13)

A troubling side effect of the pandemic is a decrease in well-child visits and immunizations. VFC provider orders are down by more than 11.1 million doses compared to the previous year, with measles-containing vaccines down by more than 1.4 million doses. (6/13)

Children who cannot access vaccinations are left vulnerable to infectious diseases like measles and whooping cough and could leave their communities more vulnerable to outbreaks of other infectious diseases at the same time COVID-19 continues to spread. (7/13)

According to @GeorgetownCCF , children’s Medicaid enrollment has increased by more than 10% over the past year as a result of pandemic-related job and income loss, making the demand for VFC providers more acute than ever. (8/13) ccf.georgetown.edu/2021/02/12/chi…

It is imperative that we bolster the pediatric vaccine delivery system immediately to address the gap in routine childhood immunizations as another school year approaches, and to prepare for widespread administration of a COVID-19 vaccine once it's approved for children. (9/13)

The Strengthening the Vaccines for Children Program Act of 2021 (H.R. 2347) builds on the successes of the VFC program to provide surge capacity during the pandemic and to ensure long-term improvements in children’s access to vaccinations. (10/13)

Builds Surge Capacity by:

💰Providing incentive payments for VFC participation over two years to cover operational costs.

💵Raising Medicaid vaccine administration payment for two years and gives states an increased FMAP to cover the costs.

(11/13)

Long-Term Improvements:

✅Extends eligibility to children in separate CHIP programs
✅Ensures Medicaid can pay appropriately for
administration/counseling of multicomponent vaccines.
✅Allows children to receive VFC vaccines in their medical home (not just FQHC/RHCs).

(12/13)

As the experts on child health, you can bet all 720+ attendees of #AAPAdvocacy2021 are going to educate their members on why this bill is to crucial to improving childhood vaccinations.

I'm excited to see the impact they make, and to work to get this across the finish line!

And in case this is helpful, here’s the thread all on one page!

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1381659…