Vaccination and ObamaCare
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You’ve heard about vaccination and its dangers. Let’s look at the facts and myths on vaccines covered under ObamaCare at no out-of-pocket costs.
Check out our new page on vaccination, see all of ObamaCare’s preventive services, or just check out some of the quick vaccine facts below.
Quick Facts:
- Today the flu vaccination and other vaccinations are covered at no out-of-pocket cost under ObamaCare. In the past, especially before CHIP, this wasn’t the case. See this policy guidance memo from 1998.
- More than 10 million vaccines per year are given to children less than 1 year old, usually between 2 and 6 months of age.
- Since 1988 there have been 1,132 deaths from all vaccines (as reported by HRSA.gov in 2015). So there are some risks, but they are statistically slim.
- Polio cases have decreased 99% since 1988, primarily due to vaccination.
- Jonas Salk invented the polio vaccine in 1953 but never patented it. He believed that, like the sun, a vaccine for polio belonged to the people. Learn more about the story of how a vaccine for Polio was discovered.
- During 2000-2013, measles vaccination prevented an estimated 15.6 million deaths.
- In 2013 the vaccine market was about $25 billion, and about $3 billion came from the flu vaccine alone. To put this in perspective, healthcare spending was $2.8 trillion that same year.
- Vaccine sales are small portion of worldwide pharmaceutical company revenues, less than 2.5% (.3% from flu shots).
- Other pharmaceutical products have up to 10% greater gross profits than vaccines (average of 3%).
- Big Phrama would make more money not having to create vaccines (mostly due to shipping and spoil loss associated with vaccines).
- Literally hundreds of thousands of people die every year due to diseases preventable by vaccination. For comparison, in 1918 as many as 50 million died from the Spanish flu.
- Today we don’t have to worry about losing our children to diseases like the mumps, measles, and polio, and now with the Affordable Care Act and CHIP, we don’t have to need to worry about cost when it comes to protecting our children either.
Get more vaccine facts from ObamaCare Facts. If you think insurance costs are expensive, you should see healthcare costs associated with treating the measles.
Author: Thomas DeMichele
Thomas DeMichele is the head writer and founder of ObamaCareFacts.com, FactsOnMedicare.com, and other websites. He has been in the health insurance and healthcare information field since 2012. ObamaCareFacts.com is a...
Thomas DeMichele's Full Bio
Paul DeShaw
Aetna refused to cover my flu shot; my provider is billing me for the full cost. Is this illegal?
J
I’m disappointed in the lack of disclosure, given there is risk. Why not include the critical information about the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 and its impact on vaccine manufacturer liability, how tort liability was replaced by a federal government claims process and how it works, and how to report adverse reactions to VAERS and its 3 year statute of limitations, for example.
You state: “Since 1988 there have been 1,132 deaths from all vaccines (as reported by HRSA.gov in 2015). So there are some risks, but they are statistically slim.”
Even if risks are ‘statistically slim’ as you state, don’t the Obamacare administrators believe people should be informed by the goverment about the liability and their rights under the law?
Orange lover
I think these facts are poorly written. Some of these facts aren’t proper English.
I guess there are enough poorly educated Americans who would believe this nonsense.
Nothing is at no cost to you unless you don’t work. Then these “free” services come out of your pay in the form of taxes.
The flu changes every year and a vaccine they produce is a best guess which goes against the regulations on a vaccine to be safe for everyone.
ObamaCareFacts.comThe Author
Thank you for the feedback, I gave the page an edit.
Now, to your point. You seem to be taking an “anti-vax” and “anti-ObamaCare” standpoint. The anti-vax standpoint as been debunked in general, but the flu shot is a little more complicated. That is a personal choice sort of thing.
As for the ACA, why yes, I realize that nothing is free. But under all ACA plans, Medicaid, CHIP, and Medicare CDC recommended vaccines are available at no out-of-pocket costs.
Your arguments aren’t without any merit, but we have to be careful as a parent could read something like this and skip vaccinating their child due to fear or cost, and if that happens on a mass scale we could lose herd immunity and face some pretty nasty diseases again.
Anyway, the topic can be complex, but the basics are: 1. Vaccines are “free” on ACA complaint plans and 2. Childhood vaccination is a modern miracle of science, despite nothing being without some risk.
Mary
I have two grandchildren with severe allergies: eggs, sugar, food coloring, bee stings, chocolate, and ibroprofen. The doctors have told my daughter not to have the children vaccinated because of all these problems. She takes care of them with herbs and alternative medicines. They are both very healthy. Vaccinations should be a parent choice, not mandated. The most obvious reason has been stated above. I believe it also should depend on individual circumstances. Not all children/adults react the same.
ObamaCareFacts.comThe Author
If a small amount of people opt out (those with good reason) we would still have “herd immunity” as a population. If everyone gets on a X-actor against vaccination kick and we get like a 10% opt-out or something we could be in for an epidemic. I think we need to be smart as a society and as humanity on this issue. Certainly the more oversight and quality control we have on creating and distributing vaccines the less of a chance we have at getting it wrong. We want to ensure we use modern medicine to the benefit of our country, our children, and the human race. No good American wants to be hurting the next generation. The point is saving them.
LKing
Just don’t take your grandkids out of the United States of they are unprotected. No herb or diet will protect them from a virus that could care less about their diet and what herbs they eat. It is a biological fact that if your immune system lacks the antibodies for a given disease and you become exposed and infected, no herb diet is going to do protect them. If the body can’t build the army necessary to attack an unknown intruder because it doesn’t recognize the intruder as foreign, good luck.