Venkat, Khan, Kosierowski to introduce legislation that would mandate insurance coverage for FDA-approved, medically recommended vaccines
Would ensure critical immunizations remain available to Pennsylvanians
Rep. Arvind Venkat June 27, 2025 | 12:56 PM
HARRISBURG, June 27 – In the wake of major changes to a federal vaccine advisory panel that could threaten Pennsylvanians’ access to life-saving immunizations, state Reps. Arvind Venkat, Bridget Kosierowski and Tarik Khan, all health professionals, are preparing to introduce legislation that would require private insurers and Medicaid to cover FDA-approved vaccines that have been recommended by certain medical organizations.
Venkat said the legislation is needed to ensure that critical immunization protections remain available to Pennsylvanians.
“As a physician, I know that vaccines are among the most powerful tools we have in our arsenal for preventing disease. The administration of scheduled childhood vaccines and recommended vaccines to adults has protected all Pennsylvanians for decades,” said Venkat. “Unfortunately, recent developments at the federal level – including the firing of all members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and their replacement with at least several known anti-vaccine activists – is a warning sign.
“If ACIP fails to continue recommending certain FDA-approved vaccines, insurers will no longer have to cover them, and critical immunizations that protect children and vulnerable Pennsylvanians from deadly diseases would disappear. Beyond the human toll, long-term health care spending would spiral, and the rise in serious illnesses would overwhelm our already overburdened health care infrastructure. We are already seeing evidence of this with the recent measles outbreak across the country.
“Yesterday, ACIP recommended the removal of thimerosal from upcoming flu vaccines, a decision that has no basis in scientific evidence and will threaten access to flu vaccines in underserved areas. Similarly, ACIP yesterday called into question the scheduling of childhood vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox. With so much at stake, we can’t afford a wait-and-see attitude. We need to act now to make sure these protections remain available.”
Venkat said that a decision by the panel to remove certain vaccines from the recommended schedule of childhood vaccines could also prompt schools to remove vaccination requirements, leading to parents – forced to pay out of pocket for the costs – deciding to forgo them.
Khan said, “The best medicine is preventative, and vaccines have played a huge role in improving the health and lives of millions of Pennsylvanians. I’ve focused my nursing and legislative career on expanding access to health care, and our bills will ensure that Pennsylvanians can continue to access life-saving vaccines – regardless of the chaos coming down from Washington.”
Kosierowski said, “As a nurse for nearly three decades, I know that access to recommended vaccines – particularly for children – prevent individuals from falling sick to or even dying from preventable diseases. In these unstable times when scientific and medical expertise is discounted by those in power, this necessary legislation would help protect public health by requiring that private insurance and Medicaid cover access to vaccines already approved by the Food and Drug Administration and recommended by professional medical societies. We cannot allow medical quackery to discount decades of proven research in vaccine science and endanger our health and strain our already overwhelmed public health infrastructure.”
The lawmakers said their legislation would require private insurance coverage without cost-sharing and Medicaid coverage of vaccines that are approved by the FDA and recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, or the American Academy of Family Physicians, all organizations that have historically used scientific evidence to make immunization schedule recommendations.
ACIP is a deliberative body that makes binding recommendations under the Affordable Care Act and the Vaccines for Children program on vaccine coverage and use in the United States.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, the Pennsylvania Secretary of Health, and the Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner have all emphasized the importance of vaccines and warned of the negative consequences of ACIP’s failure to continue recommending current Food and Drug Administration vaccines.
It is estimated that vaccines have saved 154 million lives worldwide over the last 50 years.