H.R. 5448 — Protecting Free Vaccines Act

This section requires group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group or individual coverage to cover, without cost sharing, immunizations recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as of October 25, 2024—including such immunizations as updated or changed after that date under a Food and Drug Administration-approved supplement to a biologics license application—for plan years from the date of enactment through those beginning before January 1, 2030. (The requirement does not apply to immunizations administered during the minimum interval established under Public Health Service Act (PHSA) §2713(b).) It adds new sections to PHSA part D (42 U.S.C. 300gg–111 et seq.), ERISA subpart B of part 7 (29 U.S.C. 1185 et seq.), and Internal Revenue Code subchapter B of chapter 100, with conforming and clerical amendments. This section amends Medicare Part D (SSA §1860D–2(b)(8)(B)) to require coverage without cost sharing for such vaccines even if an ACIP recommendation is revoked after October 25, 2024, using the most recent prior recommendation in effect for the individual, for plan years from enactment through those beginning before January 1, 2030. This section amends Medicaid (SSA §1905(a)(13)(B)) to cover, as medical assistance without cost sharing, such approved vaccines and their administration for the period from enactment through December 31, 2029.