Cantwell Introduces Amendment to Guarantee COVID-19 Vaccine Access

Cantwell Introduces Amendment to Guarantee COVID-19 Vaccine Access

New FDA guidelines allow insurance companies to deny coverage - CDC says COVID shot will run Americans $142 out of pocket; Under RFK Jr., COVID-19 vaccine booster guidance rollbacks have compromised access for many Americans

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last night, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), senior member of the Senate Finance Committee and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, filed an amendment to the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would prevent health care providers from denying COVID-19 vaccines unless there's some medical reason that the patient should not have one and require insurers to cover the vaccine in full.

"Last week, RFK Jr. testified that any American who wants a COVID vaccine can still get one. Passage of this amendment will ensure that's true and that no one will be denied access to the healthcare they choose to use to protect themselves or their loved ones from COVID. We should be doubling down on the breakthrough vaccine technologies that saved more than two million lives during the pandemic, not cutting science funding. Denying health care means more sick Americans, worse preparedness for potential biothreats, and the ceding of our scientific leadership to other countries," Sen. Cantwell said.

On Aug. 27, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated its guidance surrounding COVID-19 vaccines - under the new recommendations, only people 65 and older or those with at least one underlying health condition that increases their risk of severe infection are recommended for the vaccine. While the new FDA guidelines don't ban others from receiving the vaccine, they do create new hurdles - for instance, whether the vaccine is covered by insurance and available at pharmacies will vary from patient to patient and state to state. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the cost of a COVID-19 vaccine is $142.

As a result of the revised FDA guidelines, unlike years past, most Americans will no longer be able to count on receiving a free or low-cost COVID-19 booster from their local pharmacy ahead of the 2025-2026 winter season.

Sen. Cantwell's amendment would ensure that "no individual who requests a COVID-19 vaccine shall be denied such vaccine by a health care provider who is certified to administer vaccines pursuant to Federal and State licensure laws and who provides services in a health care setting that offers such vaccine, nor shall any such individual be required to meet any criteria to receive such vaccine, except that a health care provider my deny an individual such a vaccine if the prover determines it not to be medically advisable for the individual."

The amendment also states that insurers must cover the COVID-19 vaccine in full. The full text of the amendment is HERE.

The NDAA is an annual package of legislation related to national defense and safety that Congress must pass each year. The Senate is slated to consider amendments to the legislation this month, with the goal of passing a bill before the new fiscal year begins on Oct.1.

Last week, Sen. Cantwell sparred with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump's Health and Human Services secretary and a longtime vaccine skeptic responsible for firing all 17 members of the CDC's immunization advisory committee in June. Last month, RFK Jr. also cancelled $500 million in federal funding meant for researching mRNA vaccines that counter viruses like COVID-19.

"You're not following science," Sen. Cantwell said. "You canceled $500 million of research."

She continued: "You are perpetrating hoaxes. You as the Secretary of Health, so you're undermining the whole health care delivery system, and you keep trying to point to chronic disease. But you're not putting solutions on the table to cover more Americans, and you're taking away the science and technology that has made us the leader that has saved, according to the first Trump Administration Surgeon General, millions of lives! And you don't want to keep that going!"

A full transcript of Sen. Cantwell's Q&A with RFK Jr. is available HERE, video HERE, and audio HERE.