[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 145 (Tuesday, August 10, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S6282]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REED (for himself and Mrs. Capito):
  S. 2691. A bill to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to 
ensure adequate access to vaccines under the Medicaid program and the 
Vaccines for Children program, and for other purposes; to the Committee 
on Finance.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, today I am pleased to introduce the 
Strengthening the Vaccines for Children Program Act of 2021 with 
Senator Shelley Moore Capito. This bill seeks to protect children and 
their communities from preventable illness during the pandemic and for 
the long term by making vaccines more accessible. Similar bipartisan 
legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives by 
Representatives Kim Schrier, John Joyce, G.K. Butterfield, and David 
McKinley.
  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, routine childhood vaccination rates are 
down, as parents have sought to avoid visits to the doctor and other 
medical care for their children for fear of catching or spreading 
COVID-19. These lower immunizations rates raise the very real 
possibility of a secondary outbreak of an infectious disease such as 
measles, mumps, or whooping cough. The Vaccines for Children (VFC) 
program provides federally purchased vaccines to approximately half of 
all children in the United States, including children who are enrolled 
in Medicaid or who are uninsured or underinsured, and plays a critical 
role in ensuring high rates of childhood vaccination. As children 
return to school in person this fall, the VFC program will be critical 
to helping children catch up on their routine immunizations to prevent 
outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. However, much more must be 
done to update and improve the VFC program to better reflect the 
challenges of administering vaccines today.
  Our bipartisan legislation would modernize the VFC program, 
addressing barriers to participation among families and their 
pediatricians. As such, this bill would extend eligibility to children 
enrolled in the Children's Health Insurance Program, streamlining and 
filling a gap in program administration. The bill would also ensure 
that Medicaid can pay appropriately for the administration and 
counseling of modern, multicomponent vaccines, helping to address 
vaccine hesitancy. Lastly, the bill includes new reporting requirements 
to identify disparities and pockets of low vaccination rates.
  This legislation has already passed unanimously in the House Energy 
and Commerce Committee, demonstrating broad, bipartisan support for 
improving the VFC program and addressing lagging childhood vaccination 
rates. I look forward to working with Sen. Capito, as well as 
Representatives Schrier, Joyce, Butterfield, and McKinley towards 
passage of this legislation in both chambers in the near future.
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