Vaccines are one of the most cost-effective healthcare interventions and the cornerstone of a patient-centered public health program.. However, in the United States, adult vaccination rates have remained low and well below targets over time. For this reason, healthcare professionals, patient advocacy groups, and policy makers have been striving for decades to improve these rates through projects and approaches that have had results in children, but not in the adult population.
A report prepared by the consulting firm IQVIA analyzes the policies and programs implemented in the United States to reduce the existing vaccination gap. Thus, Various research highlights that policies that have been successful in increasing adult access to vaccines fall into two broad categories. On the one hand, those that reduce barriers for patients, such as eliminating patients’ out-of-pocket costs or directly engaging them with material appropriate to their age, language, and literacy level; while on the other, those that reduce barriers for providers, such as changing state laws to allow pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to administer vaccines or improving accessibility to places where patients can receive vaccines.
The document shows the differences between the Centers for Medicare Services, a federal health insurance program for people age 65 and older, and Medicaid, a program that helps pay the cost of health care for people with limited income and resources. Vaccination rates for Medicaid’s adult population lag far behind those for Medicare, with a difference of nearly 30 percent. When it comes to flu, vaccination rates have been well below the Healthy 2030 goals set by the Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Goals for 2030 over the past few years, especially for adults from 18 to 64 years old.
Furthermore, the Ethnic and racial minorities tend to have lower vaccination rates, which increases the disease burden for those communities. This trend is also seen in IQVIA data for the 2022-2023 flu season, showing a lower percentage of adults on Medicaid compared to Medicare. “Despite evidence of lagging adult flu vaccination rates and surveys demonstrating provider dissatisfaction with reimbursement rates for flu vaccine administration, the association between reimbursement levels for the flu vaccine and its acceptance among adults enrolled in Medicaid remains unexplored,” the document reiterates.
“Adult Flu Vaccination Rates for Medicaid Populations Remain Worryingly Low, and approaches to improve this rate are crucial for public health and health equity. Adequate reimbursement to all healthcare professionals for vaccination services that provides necessary and equitable payment would encourage the continued provision of these services,” he adds.
Pharmacy has played an important role in vaccine administration in the United States, as many people received COVID-19 vaccines at these facilities, regardless of gender, race/ethnicity, or income. However, other vaccines for adults were also administered in pharmacies, such as almost all against shingles and much against influenza in adults. On the other hand, anti-pneumococcal drugs have systematically experienced an increase in administration in pharmacies during the flu season. Additionally, pharmacies may also be especially important for certain demographic groups. Thus, people of Hispanic ethnicity have a higher proportion of vaccine administration in pharmacies compared to other racial and ethnic groups.
“This suggests that access to immunization at pharmacies may be a crucial part of helping address certain vaccination disparities. Additionally, previous research has shown that low-income patients have greater access to pharmacies than doctors when it comes to immunization. “Any policy related to pharmacies must take into account the disproportionate impact it may have on the wide range of communities that prefer this location,” the document states.
Increasing reimbursement levels may result in increased costs in the short term; However, the expected increase in vaccination rates, reduction in hospitalizations, and avoidance of serious health complications should offset these costs over time. “Addressing barriers to vaccination will continue to be important to help facilitate an increase in vaccination rates for adults in Medicaid. Increasing reimbursement levels may not be enough on its own to increase vaccination rates, but this study suggests it is an important contributor to this process.“concludes the document.
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2024-03-04 17:22:16
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