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Evaluation of Vaccine Purchase Financing in the United States
The delivery of vaccines to children, adolescents, and adults in the United States relies on a mixed public and private health care and public health system to finance the purchase and administration of vaccine products. This system is complex and fragmented, and substantial gaps exist in determining eligibility for public assistance in purchasing vaccines. Though cumbersome, the U.S. immunization system has achieved record high levels of coverage for a growing number of vaccine products. Immunization remains one of the most significant public health achievements of the modern age and is responsible for the reduction, and in some cases of eradication, of infectious diseases that once resulted in death and morbidity for thousands of children and adults.
The National Immunization Program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has commissioned the IOM study to address issues and concerns over the pricing of vaccines and the addition of new vaccine products to the recommended immunization schedule, as well as the state of the nation's vaccine supply. This new study on vaccine finance will draw from earlier IOM projects, particularly the 2000 IOM report Calling the Shots.
The purpose of this study is to identify financial strategies that are designed to achieve an appropriate balance of roles and responsibilities in the public and private health sectors, integrate federal and state roles in supporting the purchase and administration of recommended vaccines for vulnerable populations, and develop a framework for identifying pricing strategies that can contribute to achieving current and future national immunization goals for children and adults.
The study will develop recommendations to guide federal, state, and congressional decision-making with respect to the purchase of vaccines for the general population, especially underserved groups. The Committee will develop a plan that can assure an adequate supply of current vaccines and also provide incentives for the development of new vaccine products. The Committee will review factors that influence recent pricing trends in the vaccine industry, identify current health coverage disparities and levels of need that affect access to vaccines in the child and adult populations, and consider the effects of regulatory and licensing procedures on vaccine pricing and vaccine delivery patterns.
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Last Updated: 10/18/2007, 03:17 PM
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