Does the idea of a doctor’s office without vaccines sound almost absurd? Well, that may be the reality for some practices that can no longer afford to stock vaccinations due to their high costs. It’s a case of simple economics. For example, the chicken pox vaccine costs about $115, but insurers will only cover between $68 to $83 of that. Add to that the cost of staff to administer the vaccine and you’ve got a negative return. The cost of vaccines set by pharmaceutical companies is another issue. As much as physicians have an obligation to help others, at some point it just doesn’t make sense. It’s unclear exactly how widespread vaccine cutbacks are, but in a recent survey, as high as 5% of pediatricians and 11% of physicians indicated that they’re seriously considering no longer offering immunizations. [via CNN.com]
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Tags: chicken pox, immunizations, pediatrician, vaccination, vaccine
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Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.
September 9th, 2009 at 9:18 am
Although I can understand why pediatricians would stop offering immunizations if they create a negative return, wouldn’t not offering them hurt them more? I would just pick someone else who gave immunizations to avoid multiple appointments.
September 9th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
We need a Health Care Reform!
Competition!
Drug companies and insurance companies and lawyers (making fortunes without a TORT reform) should not be rich due to the present extreemly expensive health care system. The most costly in the world. And still 46 million are uninsured.
If some children are not vaccinated due to high cost, we will all pay for it with sick children, parents staying home, a grown-up getting a life-threatening chicken pox infektion, and a child with cancer die in chickenpox!
The US have in some areas had vaccination rates of children comparable with developing contries.
The ignorant people screaming on the Republicans’ Tea Parties will deeply regret their opposition to a reform that is absolutely necessary.
Why does the vaccine cost that much?
Why do drug companies sell prescription drugs cheaper in Canada than in the US?
Proposed health care reform:
If you like your insurance you will keep it!
NO cap on hospital costs per year or per life time. Half of the personal bankruptcies in the US are caused by hospital bills.
People with insurance cannot pay for cancer treatment.
Even good insurance companies like Blue Cross/Blue Shield will have to increase premium with 26%.
A family in Michigan already pays $600 per year for the uninsured.
High blood pressure can be treated with medication. As it is now poeple in their 50is come in with stroke and heart attack or go directly to dialysis for renal failure.
Ignorance. Barbaric tea parties. Political games.
I have been a physician in Sweden for 30 years and seen GOOD, FAIR, LESS expensive health care with choice of doctors, also private ones. People should not spread lies about a system they do not know.
I have worked in the American health care system and its inefficiecncy and redundance is appauling.
Stream line billing!
I have seen good governmental public health care systems here like the VA and Medicare. Why are people so afraid?
LEARN, Think and get this important health care reform through!
September 9th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
People are afraid because Medicaid, Medicare, and the VA are NOT run well.
Drugs in America cost as much as they do because countries that have national health care refuse to pay above a certain amount for the drugs. Therefore to sell drugs to that country, companies have to shift the cost of production (including years of research and development for failed as well as productive drugs- researchers have to feed their families) to Americans. Add in humanitarian pressures to supply drugs to third world countries at cut rates. Can the drug companies afford to give away their produce any more than the doctors can? Why do we assume vaccines can be supplied for less? No wonder insurance is high in America, everyone expects the insurance companies to pay whatever bill is presented w/ no question. Insurance people have to feed their families too.
September 10th, 2009 at 6:32 am
$115 for a chicken pox vaccine? Hasn’t the original research costs been covered by now? You’d think that it should be as expensive as water by now! Certain necessary vaccines should be supplied without cost to anyone, after all – didn’t the government supply funds to develop it in the first place? How about $35 for an x-ray, and $350 for someone to LOOK at it….All that attributed to the necessity of health care providers having to raise their rates due to the spiraling cost of malpractice insurance, after all – insurance people need to feed their families and gas in the Lambo is not cheap. Why should a person, or their survivors, be able to sue a Doctor for so much anyways? If a life is lost due to malpractice what’s the problem – a person is only going to die eventually anyways, you can’t take life seriously as you aren’t going to get out of it alive. And if a person loses an arm or leg due to malpractice what really is the big deal, you have two. There is a great need for reform in the whole medical field, true, a doctor should make money in his profession just alone for the time and effort, not to mention expense, to become a doctor. But are doctors in that profession to make millions, or due to a driven desire to help people?