The federal Vaccines for Children (VFC) program provides recommended pediatric vaccines to eligible children. Under the program, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) coordinates the purchase of vaccines from manufacturers at a discount and distributes them through state and local agencies to private providers and public health clinics. The program is codified within the Medicaid statute, and expenditures for the vaccines and for the program’s administration are financed by Medicaid. The costs of administering the vaccines to children are financed either by Medicaid or by CHIP, depending on the coverage category of the eligible child.
The program makes vaccinations available to uninsured children, underinsured children who obtain vaccinations at Federally Qualified Health Centers or Rural Health Clinics, children enrolled in Medicaid or in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in states where CHIP is administered through the state’s Medicaid program, and children who are classified as Indian under the Indian Health Care Improvement Act.
