Congresswoman Schrier Introduces Bipartisan Legislation to Improve Children’s Health

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08) recently introduced the bipartisan Strengthening the Vaccines for Children Program Act, which would strengthen the Vaccines for Children Program by bolstering the pediatric vaccine delivery system and supporting primary care physicians in order to reduce barriers to care and help families catch up on routine vaccinations. Congresswoman Schrier is joined in introducing this legislation by Congressman John Joyce, M.D. (PA-13).

“As a pediatrician, I’ve seen the impact that vaccines have on our children and know that routine immunizations play an integral role in keeping them safe and healthy,” said Congresswoman Schrier. “In its three decades, the Vaccines for Children Program has ensured that all children, regardless of their family’s financial status, can be protected from vaccine-preventable diseases. This bipartisan bill will make meaningful improvements to this crucial program, making those vaccines even easier for families to access.”

The Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program was first established in 1994 and aimed to ensure that all children were able to receive their recommended vaccines on schedule by helping provide vaccines to children whose parents or guardians may not be able to afford them. Since its inception, the program has helped prevent approximately 508 million illnesses and 1.3 million deaths, saving nearly $2.7 trillion in societal costs. However, health care disruptions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic have caused many children to skip routine care. This legislation would address this issue by bolstering the pediatric vaccine delivery system and supporting primary care physicians in order to expand access.  

The Strengthening the Vaccines for Children Program Act will:

• Improve patient access and care by expanding VFC eligibility to cover more children at more locations
• Incentivize provider participation in the program and alleviate operational burdens
• Expand vaccine counseling and education reimbursement to combat vaccine hesitancy.
• Track immunizations to better understand disparities and find pockets of under-vaccination

“For the past thirty years, the Vaccines for Children Program has provided eligible families across the United States with access to life-saving immunizations at no cost,” said Congressman Joyce. 

“We know vaccines work and vaccines save lives. Yet, we are facing an alarming decline in routine childhood immunizations and we’ve witnessed outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illnesses in communities across the country. The Strengthening the Vaccines for Children Program Act is vital legislation that will help bolster the pediatric vaccine delivery system and ensure children can receive vaccinations in their trusted medical home without families facing financial or logistical barriers,” said American Academy of Pediatrics President Benjamin Hoffman, MD, FAAP. “The American Academy of Pediatrics applauds Representatives Kim Schrier, MD, FAAP (D-Wash.) and John Joyce, MD (R-Pa.) for their continued leadership on this issue, and calls on lawmakers to support child health and pass this bill without delay.”

“Thank you to Congresswoman Schrier and Congressman Joyce for advocating for this bill. Immunizations are one of medicine’s most cost-effective and lifesaving tools, up there with clean water and sanitation. It is critical that we maintain children’s access to existing safe and effective immunizations and that we continue to develop and improve these tools,” said Sean Murphy, MD/PhD, Chief and Medical Director, Department of Laboratories, Seattle Children’s Hospital. “I have a family member who had polio as a child in the 1950s and has endured lasting effects from that now-preventable disease for much of his life. At Seattle Children’s, we know it is better to prevent a disease than to treat it. This VFC Bill can help us to fulfill that truth and our mission to care for children in our region and throughout the United States.”

“Seattle Indian Health Board endorses this bill because it ensures equitable access to child immunizations, benefitting Native people in both urban and tribal communities,” said Esther Lucero (Diné), president and CEO of Seattle Indian Health Board. “The VCF Program has proven effective, and we thank Rep. Schrier for working to secure its continuation.” 

“No program has done more to ensure that children get the vaccines they need than the Vaccines for Children Program.  With declining rates of vaccination among kindergarteners, strengthening the program is more important now than ever before,” said Paul A. Offit, MD, Director of the Vaccine Education Center and attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “The CDC has recently noted an increase in nonmedical exemptions among kids entering school, which has caused an increase in diseases such as measles, which before a vaccine was available caused 48,000 hospitalizations and 500 deaths a year, and whooping cough, which caused 8,000 deaths annually in children prior to the vaccine.  Strengthening the Vaccines for Children program to ensure it covers more children can help stem this growing tide against vaccination.” 

This legislation is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians.