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Contact your local health department. Many childhood vaccines are
available free, or at very low depending on the parent's financial
situation.
Few people are as great a proponent of vaccination as I am.
Yet, our own local health department frustrates me. The department continually tries to charge for every vaccination given. Only, if people truly insist they are too poor to pay for the vaccine will the department wave the costs.
I don't believe vaccination should work this way. In an ideal world, no one would ever be asked for a fee at the time a shot is given. The cost would be absorbed through taxes and there would be no user fees at all. Just the mere presence of a sign containing vaccine charges at the health department is enough to scare many people away.
Someone who is given a vaccination is really taking that shot for (1) themselves; (2) all the people they come into contact with who will not get sick. In this sense, taking the vaccine is a public service and I believe accordingly there should be no charge.
Do any health departments just offer these for free and not try to squeeze money out of those seeking the vaccine?
Few people are as great a proponent of vaccination as I am.
Yet, our own local health department frustrates me. The department continually tries to charge for every vaccination given. Only, if people truly insist they are too poor to pay for the vaccine will the department wave the costs.
I don't believe vaccination should work this way. In an ideal world, no one would ever be asked for a fee at the time a shot is given. The cost would be absorbed through taxes and there would be no user fees at all. Just the mere presence of a sign containing vaccine charges at the health department is enough to scare many people away.
Someone who is given a vaccination is really taking that shot for (1) themselves; (2) all the people they come into contact with who will not get sick. In this sense, taking the vaccine is a public service and I believe accordingly there should be no charge.
Do any health departments just offer these for free and not try to squeeze money out of those seeking the vaccine?
Our health department here offers them for free to anyone who comes in. Most people with insurance go see their own doctors though.
Quote:
Children, birth through 18 years of age, who meet at least one of the following criteria, are
eligible to receive TVFC vaccine from Brazoria County Health Departments.
• Enrolled in Medicaid
• A child who has no health insurance coverage
• American Indian or Alaskan Native
• Underinsured (*New Definition*)
Insured children with vaccine coverage who have high copays or deductibles are no longer
considered underinsured and are not eligible for TVFC vaccines. Please visit your
pediatrician or call your insurance company for coverage benefit
As of this year, people with insurance cannot get their immunizations at a health department. Insurance now has to cover vaccines for kids (not to be confused with the VFC program).
I worked for several county government immunization programs for many years. IMO, this is bad policy. We got a lot of people who just weren't connected with a doctor, even though they had insurance. These people are now going to have to go to Walgreen's and such to get their school IZs.
Few people are as great a proponent of vaccination as I am.
Yet, our own local health department frustrates me. The department continually tries to charge for every vaccination given. Only, if people truly insist they are too poor to pay for the vaccine will the department wave the costs.
I don't believe vaccination should work this way. In an ideal world, no one would ever be asked for a fee at the time a shot is given. The cost would be absorbed through taxes and there would be no user fees at all. Just the mere presence of a sign containing vaccine charges at the health department is enough to scare many people away.
Someone who is given a vaccination is really taking that shot for (1) themselves; (2) all the people they come into contact with who will not get sick. In this sense, taking the vaccine is a public service and I believe accordingly there should be no charge.
Do any health departments just offer these for free and not try to squeeze money out of those seeking the vaccine?
I don't know about "any" health departments. Certainly the one I worked for got more aggressive over time about collecting money. However, many of our clients learned to game the system, and they'd wait until you took the needle out of their kid's arm to tell you they couldn't pay. We made no attempt at collecting if they said they couldn't pay.
And if you dont' have ins, the health dept will vaccinate your kid for free.
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