Rep. Schrier Participates in Health Subcommittee Hearing with HHS Secretary Becerra, Pushes for Improving Routine Vaccine Rates for Children

Statement

Yesterday Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08) participated in a Health Subcommittee hearing with Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra about Fiscal Year 2023 funding priorities. Rep. Schrier highlighted the drop in routine childhood immunizations and focused on ways to improve rates. Rep. Schrier's remarks can be found here.

"Just last week, it was reported that hundreds of thousands of students are no longer adequately protected from common diseases like measles, mumps, and pertussis. This is particularly dangerous for tweens in middle-school, where we have seen outbreaks of whooping cough," Rep. Schrier said. "As a pediatrician and a mom, I know that the best way to help anxious parents feel comfortable about vaccinating their children is a conversation with an empathic, compassionate, and trusted provider. Trust is not built overnight. The Medicaid program acknowledged this last summer and is now recognizing the considerable time and effort this can take and is implementing programs to make sure every person who wants a vaccine can get it."

During the hearing, Rep. Schrier applauded the inclusion of parts of her bipartisan bill, the Strengthening the Vaccines for Children Program Act, in the 2023 HHS budget. This proposal improves access for more children by expanding the number of providers who participate in the Vaccines for Children program. When pediatricians spend more time counseling children and their families about immunizations, vaccine confidence increases. Vaccine confidence has taken a big hit during the pandemic, and increased funding from HHS to the states will allow pediatricians to feel confident about immunizing their children.

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