Protecting Free Vaccines Act
Key claim: The Protecting Free Vaccines Act (HR5448) would require Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and private health insurers to cover, without cost-sharing, vaccines recommended by CDC’s ACIP as of October 25, 2024, with the mandate ending January 1, 2030.
Abstract
(HR5448 · 119th Congress) Protecting Free Vaccines Act This bill requires Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and private health insurers to cover, without cost-sharing, vaccines that were recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices as of October 25, 2024. The requirement ends on January 1, 2030. Latest action (2025-09-18): Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Education and Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Why this matters
The bill would lock in ACIP’s October 25, 2024 vaccine recommendations as a mandatory zero-cost-sharing benefit across Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and private insurance through 2030, insulating coverage from subsequent ACIP changes. For patients, it preserves out-of-pocket-free access to recommended vaccines; for insurers and state Medicaid programs, it fixes a coverage floor regardless of future federal advisory shifts.