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Welcome to the American College of Physicians' Legislative Action Center. This advocacy tool enables ACP to send out action alerts, inform our members of critical health policy issues, and put our members in contact with their legislators. |
Background: There has been a significant increase in vaccine misinformation and hesitancy in recent years. At a time when we face one of the largest measles outbreaks in decades, we must ensure that patients have the most up-to-date information on immunizations backed by long-standing, evidence-based science. Further, we must ensure that patients will continue to have access to safe and effective vaccines to mitigate diseases that threaten public health.
Recent actions and changes to immunization policies at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have led to confusion. These changes were implemented without transparency and were not backed by evidence-based science. ACP is very concerned that changes to the vaccine schedules will impact coverage of lifesaving vaccines because health insurers rely on the federal government’s vaccine recommendations for coverage policies. The recent changes would significantly limit patients’ choice and access to safe and effective vaccines.
ACP supports S.2857/H.R.5448, the Protecting Free Vaccines Act, which would ensure coverage of vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) as of October 2024, before the recent changes to the ACIP panel. The Protecting Free Vaccines Act would protect public health by guaranteeing that our patients will have access to well-established vaccines backed by rigorous scientific standards, without cost-sharing. This legislation was introduced in the Senate by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and in the House by Representatives Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ-06), Richard Neal (D-MA-01), and Bobby Scott (D-VA-03).
Action Requested: Please email your members of Congress to ask them to co-sponsor S.2857/H.R.5448, the Protecting Free Vaccines Act. A sample message has been provided for you that can be personalized. Please contact Shuan Tomlinson at stomlinson@acponline.org with any questions about this campaign. Thank you for your continued advocacy.