A bill to end a little-known group that buys childhood vaccines for the state drew a slew of opposition Wednesday from nurses and doctors who said it would not only be dangerous to health but bad for wallets.

“(This bill) asks the state to spend money to create a problem,” said Dr. Christine Arsnow, a pediatrician, during an hour-long public hearing before the Health and Human Services Committee.

The bill, HB524, would end the New Hampshire Vaccination Association. Created by the legislature in 2002, that not-for-profit organization is basically an actuarial group that simplifies the process of buying vaccines and getting them to doctors and hospitals, as part of the state program to give vaccines free to people under age 19 who have private insurance and aren’t eligible for the federal Vaccines for Children program.

It does not decide what types of vaccines to buy or who must take them – that is done by state and federal medical authorities. The money to buy the vaccines is collected from health insurance companies and third-party providers based on estimates about need in the coming year; it does not come from taxpayers.

Laura Condon, a long-time opponent of vaccines in the state – one of her handles on the social platform X, formerly Twitter, is “Laura_NoVax” – argued that the association was unnecessary government intrusion. The program, she said, could be handled more efficiently by health providers and insurance companies, just as they already do for most medication.

“This is better done by private industry. … There is no need for a quasi-government agency,” she said.

Condon served as a public member of the Vaccine Association for several years. She argued that the actual cost of the program was understated by supporters because of a shortage of audits of the Vaccine Association and lack of information about the amount of time and effort devoted to it by state employees in the Department of Health and Human Services.

Condon, who was introduced by the bill’s prime sponsor, Michael Granger, R-Milton Mills, was the only supporter to speak during the hearing.

A dozen speakers who spoke in opposition to the bill said the N.H. Vaccine Association’s bulk purchasing power lets it buy vaccines for as much as 30% less than otherwise. This, they said, makes it easier and cheaper for hospitals, medical offices, public health clinics and others to obtain vaccines for children. Without it, vaccines would be more expensive to patients and more difficult to get, particularly in rural areas.

“Why make it harder for parents to keep their children healthy?” asked Kim Bernard, a registered nurse with the Nashua Division of Public Health.

The discussion comes as the nation’s most prominent opponent of vaccines, Robert Kennedy Jr., seems increasingly likely to be named Secretary of the federal Health and Human Services Department. If that happens, it could jeopardize federal support for vaccine programs for children and others.

Vaccines boost the body’s natural immune system by training it to recognize the bacteria or viruses causing specific diseases such as measles. This lets the immune system respond quickly if that disease is encountered in the wild, preventing illness.

 

David Brooks can be reached at dbrooks@cmonitor.com