Ten percent of surveyed doctors told the Centers for Disease Control that they may no longer provide vaccines. Reuters reports that the CDC’s half-full point of view is that at least the number has not gone up: 10% of polled doctors told the CDC the very same thing in 2007.
The reason for the physicians’ discontent is a financial one. Doctors pay for the drugs up front, for which they get money back, and then get paid to give the drugs to patients. The amount doctors receive for patient visits varies. Reuters reports Medicaid pays $9.45 for administering vaccines (in addition to reimbursement for the vaccine itself), and private insurers can pay around $16.62, although clinicians can sometimes negotiate for more from private payers.
Reuters says vaccines from age 0 through 18 cost around $2,500 over 35 visits.
