By Amina Nias and Julie Stenhussen
New York (Reuters) -Health insurers are considering new expert sources to help determine which vaccines to pay as an anti -vacquine activist, and now the US Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedi is beginning to review the government’s recommendations.
Last month, Kennedy slaughtered US centers for the recommendation and prevention of illnesses that healthy children and pregnant women should receive Covid-19 staff.
Since then, he has fired the entire 17-member group of external vaccine experts who reviews CDC data and recommends who to get them, saying that they have had a conflict of interest without providing evidence of any conflict. Kennedy then replaced them with eight of his own selections – about half of which have stood against some vaccines.
At least two CDC employees have also left Kennedy solutions. The new group is officially found on Wednesday for the first time.
Two industrial organizations, two consultants in the industry and two insurers told Reuters that the insurance industry would continue to cover the vaccines recommended by the CDC group known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. But if ACIP is eliminated, insurers can seek contribution from professional medical associations and weigh other scientific evidence, they said.
Elif Aliyak, a consultant at Avalere’s health firm, said the insurance coverage could start varying. The law is required by the Law on Accessible Care to Cover Vaccines, which are specified in the ACIP Committee schedule, according to the CDC website.
“Without making this official recommendation, we will not see the same mandate coverage,” Aliyak said, adding that health plans will have to decide whether the vaccines are still worth covering.
This can lead to confusion for patients and suppliers, she said. “If the patient is vaccinated, it will not be immediately clear whether there will be coverage for him and whether the supplier will be restored.”
After the CDC rejected its recommendation for Covid Shot for pregnant women and healthy children, Kaiser Permante, based on California, an integrated healthcare system that provides insurance and healthcare, said it would continue to offer it based on medical evidence. It says that vaccines are part of the proactive maintenance of the members healthy.
Like the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the American Pharmacist Association said the elimination of the vaccine recommendation against former women’s vaccine can endanger the patient’s health. APA withheld the approval of Kennedy’s processed recommendation.
Trade Group or AIP health insurance plans have said insurers will consult with professional organizations such as the American Association of Doctors and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists when deciding what to cover.
Alternative experts
Some public health experts and infectious diseases organize an alternative group to advise on vaccines, including Michael Osterholm, Director of the Center for Infectious Diseases and Policy, which serves as an adviser to President Joe Biden on Covid-19. He said the group, the project for the integrity of the vaccine, meets with insurers.
“Given the latest developments, including changes to ACIP, we are actively monitoring a number of expert sources to lead our approach to the scope of the vaccine,” says Alan Cohen, the Buffalo project, a New York -based Centivo, adding that he will seek contribution from medical companies and “
Former Vaccine Advisor against CDC D Finona Havers, who resigned last week because of the changes of Kennedy in Vaccine Policy, said it would be difficult for any external group to repeat the work of the CDC Committee and question whether insurers could trust the vaccine.
A spokesman for a national health insurer who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters that it was too early to determine whether they would seek another group to make decisions about the vaccine policy.
Insurers who seek to maintain health members on the health plan and reduce the use of medical services are likely to continue to cover an annual vaccine against Covid, an independent vaccine policy consultant told Reuters.
For other vaccines not authorized by the ACIP immunization schedule, insurance companies are likely to weigh demographic data and costs, the consultant said.
The vaccine administered during childhoods targeted at adult adult diseases, such as Merk’s shot for human papillomavirus, which prevents certain cancers, can be dropped from coverage, said the consultant and a second health policy expert. But seasonal vaccines against RSV or flu can continue to be covered as the cost of treating the disease is much earlier.
Glen Novak, a former Director of Communications of the National CDC Immunization Program, said dropping vaccines could save insurers a little money. “But they risk losing everything they save if there are large -scale foci.”
(Report from Amina Niase in New York and Julie Stenhussen in Chicago; additional reporting from Chad Terhune in Los Angeles; Editing by Caroline Hummer and Bill Bercrot)