United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Program Evaluation and Methodology Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1995-06-15 monographic deposited born digital 49 p. GA 1.13:PEMD-95-22 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-95-22 P0b002ee180395f50 f:pe95022 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-PEMD-95-22 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-PEMD-95-22 PEMD-95-22 Immunization services Immunization programs Children Health care cost control Infectious diseases Disadvantaged persons State-administered programs Health surveys Preschoolers Head Start Program Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program CDC Childhood Immunization Initiative CDC Vaccines for Children Program Federal Immunization Grant Program Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children WIC AFDC STARS Chapter Report PEMD

More than 95 percent of the nation's children receive recommended vaccinations by the time they enter school. Preschool children were overrepresented, however, in the widespread measles outbreaks of 1989-91, a situation attributed to underimmunization. The Vaccines for Children Program, created in 1993, is intended to boost immunization coverage for children by reducing the costs of the vaccines for their parents. Yet GAO concludes that the cost of vaccine for parents has not been a major barrier to childrens' timely vaccination. Moreover, the Centers for Disease Control cannot guarantee that the program will reach pockets of need--areas or populations in which immunizations rates are low and the risk of disease is high. GAO concludes that better use of Medicaid, public health clinics, and other health providers may hold a better promise of immunizing children against disease at a cost lower than that of the program. GAO summarized this report in testimony before Congress; see: Vaccines for Children: Refocusing the Program's Goals and Implementation, by Kwai-Cheung Chan, Director of Program Evaluation in Physical System Areas, before the Subcommittee on Health and Environment, House Committee on Commerce. GAO/T-PEMD-95-23, June 15, 1995 (18 pages). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-95-22/html/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-95-22.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-95-22/pdf/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-95-22.pdf GAO/PEMD-95-22 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-95-22 Chapter Report GAO/PEMD-95-22; Vaccines for Children: Reexamination of Program Goals and Implementation Needed to Ensure Vaccination; Immunization services Immunization programs Children Health care cost control Infectious diseases Disadvantaged persons State-administered programs Health surveys Preschoolers Head Start Program Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program CDC Childhood Immunization Initiative CDC Vaccines for Children Program Federal Immunization Grant Program Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children WIC AFDC STARS Title 42 Section 300aa-25 42 U.S.C. 300aa-25 Volume 100 Page 3774 100 Stat. 3774 Public Law 99-660