The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is alarmed that the soaring costs of vaccines combined with lower reimbursements from insurance companies will lead to the under-immunization of the nation’s children and unnecessary outbreaks of preventable diseases. ‘Childhood vaccines are among the greatest medical breakthroughs of the last century and are vital to growing up healthy,’ said AAP President Jay E. Berkelhamer, MD, FAAP. ‘However, the system for delivering vaccines is broken, and we’re going to be in real trouble if it’s not fixed soon.’ Pediatricians spend tens of thousands of dollars and must frequently wait months before payment by payers (including Medicaid and private health plans). Often payments are below the cost of the vaccine. Gardasil, the new cervical cancer vaccine, costs physicians $360 for the recommended series of three doses per person. RotaTeq, the vaccine against diarrhea-causing rotavirus, costs $190 for the recommended three doses. Even the routine measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine costs $86 for the recommended two doses. In addition to the cost of the vaccine, additional costs of ordering, storing, inventory control, insurance and spoilage expenses need to be considered. However, payers are not recognizing these true costs. As a result, some pediatricians […]