Medicaid Policy
Approaches to Facilitating Access to Vaccines for Low-Income Children By Elizabeth Williams
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ollowing the recent US Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) authorization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendation, children ages 5-11 are now eligible to receive Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine. There may be unique challenges to vaccinating young children, particularly those from low-income families who may face additional barriers to access. Among all children ages 5-11, over one-third (36%) are covered by Medicaid, and 70% of children ages 5-11 with incomes below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) are covered by Medicaid (Figure 1). State Medicaid programs and Medicaid managed care plans are looking at a range of policy options to facilitate access to vaccines for young, low-income children. Low-income children may face barriers to vaccine access. KFF polling recently found that parents of children ages 5-11 with household incomes under $50,000 are more likely than
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those with higher incomes to say they are very or somewhat concerned about issues related to the coronavirus vaccine. In particular, low-income parents reported more concerns about accessing the vaccine, such as taking time off work or traveling to a place to receive a vaccine. Research prior to the pandemic similarly shows lower overall immunization rates for low-income children, likely stemming from difficulties with access such as a lack of information and outreach or transportation. Low rates of vaccination among low-income children could have implications for ongoing disparities in prevalence of COVID-19 among communities of color. KFF analysis of the 2021 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC) finds over two-thirds of children ages 5-11 covered by Medicaid are children of color, including approximately 37% who are Hispanic and 21% who are Black. Black and Hispanic people have been less likely than their White
