The Brief
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- Minnesota lawmakers are set to debate a bill to create a new state vaccine advisory council and expand vaccine coverage.
- The council, composed of health experts, would meet four times a year and submit vaccine recommendations to the state health commissioner.
- The council would have the power to override the health commissioner’s decisions with a two-thirds vote.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) – Minnesota lawmakers are set to debate the creation of a new council on Thursday that would advise the state on vaccine schedules.
New vaccine council?
What we know:
The Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee is set to discuss the bill during a hearing on Thursday at 12:30 p.m.
The bill is the final item on a loaded docket that also includes discussion on non-opioid pain management coverage, infertility treatment coverage, and cancer imaging and testing coverage, among other bill debate.
Dig deeper:
The Senate bill carries two provisions. The first expands health care coverage for vaccines, requiring health insurance plans to provide coverage for immunizations recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the West Coast Health Alliance, in addition to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
The second provision creates the vaccine advisory council. The council would meet four times a year in public to consider vaccine recommendations that would be sent to the health commissioner.
The health commissioner would get the final say on changes to the vaccine schedule. But, notably, if the council chair feels the commissioner hasn’t acted appropriately on the council’s advice, the council would have the power to override the commissioner’s decision with a two-thirds override vote. If that happens, those recommendations must remain in place for at least six months.
By the numbers:
Members of the council must be “trusted scientists, clinicians, and public health leaders.”
Members would come from and be appointed by different health organizations in the state, including:
- Minnesota Medical Association
- American College of Physicians
- American Academy of Pediatrics
- Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
- Minnesota Nurses Association
- National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
- School Nurse Organization of Minnesota
- A healthcare provider from postsecondary institution
- Minnesota Pharmacists Association
- Minnesota community health board
- A Tribal Nation health department
- Infectious Disease Society of America
- Minnesota Council of Health Plans
- Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota
- Representatives with other areas of expertise as identified by the council.
The health commissioner or a designee would also be a member and chair the first meeting. A new chair would be selected during the first meeting.
Vaccine ‘uncertainty’ at federal level
Local perspective:
The legislation has the backing of major health care systems, including Allina, Fairview, Children’s Minnesota, and the Minnesota Hospital Association.
All four organizations wrote letters of support for the bill that are attached to Thursday’s committee agenda. The letter from the hospital association reads in part: “Minnesota has experienced a troubling drop in childhood vaccination rates since 2020, contributing to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases including measles and pertussis. At the same time, recent uncertainty surrounding federal vaccine policy has left patients, providers, and payers unclear about which vaccines will be covered and recommended. SF 3859 directly addresses this uncertainty by requiring coverage of routine vaccines without cost-sharing and anchoring that coverage to recommendations from leading professional medical organizations and evidence-based science.”
Big picture view:
The calls for the new council come as the Trump administration and the State of Minnesota clash over vaccine schedules.
Just last week, 15 states, including Minnesota, sued the Trump administration over recent changes to childhood vaccine schedules. In January, the Trump administration reduced the federal recommendation for the number of diseases that children are routinely vaccinated against from 17 to 11.
In January, both the Minnesota and Wisconsin health departments broke with CDC recommendations on vaccines and aligned with the guidance of medical professional organizations.
