CMS Says States No Longer Have to Report Child Vaccination Levels

A December 30 letter from CMS to state health officials proclaimed that states will “no longer be required to report how many children they vaccinate” to the agency. CIDRAP has the news.

States have been required to report the “percentage of patients covered by Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Plan who are immunized” before now. Around 40% of children are covered by Medicaid, and CHIP “provides health insurance to children whose families do not qualify for Medicaid.”

States can continue providing the information voluntarily. CMS stated it will explore “new vaccine measures that capture information about whether parents and families were informed about vaccine choices, vaccine safety and side effects, and alternative vaccine schedules.” This comes amid HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s efforts to “restrict access to vaccines.”

HHS declined to answer questions posed by CIDRAP about the CMS letter. Kennedy wrote on X saying that government bureaucracies “should never coerce doctors or families into accepting vaccines or penalize physicians for respecting patient choice.” This prompted concern from certain experts. Thomas Nguyen, an Ohio pediatrician, said he would continue to follow the “practice recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics because the organization’s advice is based on rigorous science.”