Through the Vermont Vaccine Purchasing Program (VVPP), the Vermont Department of Health (VDH) efficiently and equitably provides for the necessary flow of vaccine purchase funds. They do this by collecting funds from health plans, insurance companies, and other payers. The state uses these funds to purchase vaccines for Vermont’s Vaccines for Children (VFC) and Vaccines for Adults (VFA) programs. These vaccines are purchased at favorable rates and distributed to providers at no charge. For more than ten years, VVPP has delivered significant benefits for Vermonters, Payers and Providers.
Benefits of the VVPP
• Lower Costs: States that serve as the single purchaser of childhood and adult vaccines receive more favorable pricing. Depending on the vaccine, these prices range from an estimated 15 percent to 60 percent lower than private purchase alternatives. These savings lower the costs of the health care and, ultimately, help hold down rising premium costs for individuals and benefit costs for employers.
• Provider Benefits and Family Choice: Health care providers continue to administer vaccines to their patients, free of worry. In addition, they avoid the financial and staffing burden required to purchase vaccines privately. Additionally, as vaccine purchases are uncoupled from tight state budgetary controls generally, families and physicians gain access to a wider range of federally approved vaccines affording them a wider range of therapeutic choices.
• Immunization Benefits: Next to clean drinking water and good nutrition, vaccines have saved more lives than any other public-health intervention in modern history. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that vaccinating every child born in the U.S. from birth to adolescence would prevent 14 million infections, spare 33,000 lives, and save $10 billion in medical costs. (Source: “How Safe Are Vaccines?” by Alice Park, Time, May 21, 2008.)
For more information
For more information about the role and progress of the VVPP, please email us at info@VTvaccine.org.
To learn more about the VVPP, click here.