Rates for vaccine administration vary widely state by state and strongly influence vaccination rates
TUESDAY, Oct. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Higher Medicaid reimbursement rates for influenza vaccine administration are associated with an increase in the number of low-income level children who will receive one, according to research published online Oct. 18 in Pediatrics.
Byung-Kwang Yoo, M.D., of the University of Rochester in New York, and colleagues examined the vaccination rates of children 6 to 23 months old during three consecutive influenza seasons to see if there was an association between influenza vaccination rates and Medicaid reimbursement rates for administration of the vaccine among Medicaid-eligible children.
The researchers found 11.7, 11.6, and 18.8 percent of poor children were vaccinated in the 2006, 2007, and 2008 influenza seasons, respectively, compared with 21.0, 21.3, and 28.9 percent of all U.S. children. An increase from $8 to $18 per vaccination in the Medicaid reimbursement rate was associated with percentage-point increases of 6.0, 9.2, and 6.4 for the three influenza seasons, respectively, indicating significant positive associations between reimbursement rates and vaccination rates.
"Medicaid reimbursement rates are strongly associated with influenza vaccination rates," the authors write.
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