House Dems seek to protect vaccine coverage in Pa. amid federal overhauls

HARRISBURG — A state-based protection mandating insurance coverage of recommended vaccines without charging out-of-pocket costs to patients was formally introduced Thursday in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Led by a trio of lawmakers who are also medical professionals, House Bill 1828 arrives as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. overhauls the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention amid criticisms that he's replacing independent experts with vaccine skeptics.

Kennedy had already fired the entire panel of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which is responsible for approving vaccine guidance in the U.S., before President Donald Trump fired CDC Director Susan Monarez on Thursday.

The now-former director, Monarez was a Trump appointee who had only been confirmed by the Senate in late July. Her dismissal triggered resignations from other top officials in the CDC.

ACIP guidance is broadly adopted by insurers for coverage. Changes to the board's makeup and vision for vaccine guidance could move companies not to cover certain vaccines, leading patients to pay the cost or go without, The Washington Post reported.

State Reps. Arvind Venkat, D-Allegheny, Bridget Kosierowski, D-Lackawanna, and Tarik Khan, D-Philadelphia, look to retain broader coverage in Pennsylvania.

"As a physician, I know how powerful vaccines at all stages of life can be for preventing or mitigating disease. If ACIP stops recommending certain FDA-approved vaccines, insurers will no longer have to cover them, and critical immunizations that protect children and vulnerable Pennsylvanians from deadly diseases could disappear. As ACIP calls into question the scheduling of vaccines for the flu, measles, mumps, rubella, and chicken pox, we need to act before it is too late," Venkat said.

Under the proposed bill, the state Department of Health would make recommendations for vaccine schedules and could choose to do so, though it wouldn't be required, with the support of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

Vaccines recommended by the Department of Health would be required for coverage by health insurance companies. Violations would risk the insurer's license and also fines of up to $500,000 in the aggregate within a calendar year.

Coverage would also be required under Medicaid for vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The federal agency approved COVID-19 vaccines this week but with new restrictions that, with the approval of the ACIP, could restrict coverage to people over age 65 or those with documented serious health issues, according to The Associated Press.

Venkat is an emergency physician, while Khan and Kosierowski are nurses.

"The best medicine is preventative, and vaccines have played a huge role in improving the health and lives of millions of Pennsylvanians. I've focused my nursing and legislative career on expanding access to health care, and our bills will ensure that Pennsylvanians can continue to access life-saving vaccines — regardless of the chaos coming down from Washington," Khan said in June when a co-sponsorship memo for the bill was first circulated.

Aside from the three primary sponsors, the bill has 25 additional co-sponsors, all of whom are Democrats.