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U.S. health insurers intend to follow the vaccine coverage rules that were in effect Sept. 1, 2025, in 2026, according to America's Health Insurance Plans.
AHIP, a big trade group for health insurers, said earlier this week that insurers will continue to cover the vaccines that were recommended by the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the beginning of this month.
The list of vaccines that will be covered includes the "updated formulations of the COVID-19 and influenza vaccines," AHIP said.
Insurers will not impose cost-sharing requirements on patients for those ACIP-recommended vaccines in the coming year, AHIP added.
"While health plans continue to operate in an environment shaped by federal and state laws, as well as program and customer requirements, the evidence-based approach to coverage of immunizations will remain consistent," AHIP said.
The backdrop: The U.S. federal government and state governments have promoted active vaccination campaigns for decades.
The Affordable Care Act requires many types of health coverage providers, including employers' fully insured health plans and employers' self-insured health plans, to cover many types of vaccinations without imposing co-payments, coinsurance bills, deductibles or other cost-sharing requirements on the patients.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new secretary of Health and Human Services, has been highly critical of U.S. vaccination programs for years, and he has faced intense scrutiny from other health policymakers in Washington over vaccine policy.
Related: Employers face new COVID vaccine access maze
Vaccine makers used an emergency authorization process to get permission to provide COVID vaccines during the COVID pandemic.
Officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently argued that the relatively low number of severe COVID infections affecting people in the United States now has changed risk-benefit calculations for the vaccines. The FDA is no longer recommending that healthy people under 65 get COVID vaccinations.
The CDC is still recommending that most adults ages 18 and older get COVID shots. It recommends that parents discuss the benefits of vaccination with the health care providers of children ages 6 months to 17 years.
Some health policy watchers have suggested that the FDA recommendation change could eventually lead to federal regulators removing COVID vaccinations from the list of preventive services that health coverage providers must cover free from cost-sharing requirements.
Many states, including Colorado and New York, say they are working to maintain easy, cost-free access to COVID vaccines for state residents.
Aetna, which is now part of CVS, says members of insured plans who choose to vaccinate against COVID can get vaccinated without facing cost-sharing.
Brown & Brown's view: The pharmacy team at Brown & Brown, a large insurance broker and benefits advisory firm, says in a new analysis aimed at employer health sponsors that it believes that COVID continues to be a serious threat to U.S. workers' health.
COVID caused at least 39,000 deaths in the United States between Oct. 1, 2024, and Aug. 30, 2025, according to the Brown & Brown pharmacy team.
"As of late August, COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 36 states, with no states showing a decline," the pharmacy team says.
COVID is still causing about as many deaths as flu, and employers should continue to fight it using the same kinds of efforts they have used to fight flu, the team adds.
The team is encouraging employers to communicate with employees as clearly as possible, watch carefully for policy updates and prepare for the possibility that physician groups and state coalitions may issue recommendations that conflict with the recommendations coming out of Washington.
"Our team will provide an update to this communication when more information is made available," the pharmacy team says.
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