WA moves to issue its own guidance for vaccines insurers must cover
Last fall, Washington and other Western states issued their own vaccine recommendations in a sharp rejection of federal policy that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has upended.
And on Thursday, the Washington Legislature passed legislation to change state law so that vaccine coverage is tied to recommendations from the state, not a federal panel filled with Kennedy appointees. It requires insurers to follow the state’s guidelines instead of the ones from the feds that Democrats say can no longer be trusted.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices had been made up of vaccine experts from across the country, including one from the University of Washington, but Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, fired them last year. Kennedy replaced them largely with anti-vaccine activists or doctors without expertise in the field. Kennedy has said he wanted to restore trust in a panel he believed was rife with conflicts of interest.
For decades, the committee has reviewed vaccine efficacy and recommended who should receive which shots. The guidance goes to the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, who usually follows the group’s decisions.
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/02/26/wa-moves-to-issue-its-own-vaccine-guidance-amid-federal-overhaul/
VICTORY! Legislature sends Governor Bob Ferguson bill to let Washington’s own Department of Health issue vaccine guidance
The Evergreen State is one step closer to allowing its own Department of Health to issue immunization recommendations and guidance instead of being required to rely on the politicized federal Centers For Disease Control and Prevention that are now under the thumb of Robert F. Kennedy Junior and his minions.
Yesterday, the Washington State Senate joined the Washington State House in approving agency request legislation that gives our public health officials the autonomy they need to break with Trump’s regime and continue following science.
The bill also maintains the no-cost coverage for services like well-child visits and immunizations that Washingtonians have had since 2010.
“These are important services for people who choose to use them,” said Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer in a statement following Senate passage. “This bill ensures that the recommendations will continue to come from trained medical experts, rather than political appointees with no background in medicine or science.
https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2026/02/victory-legislature-sends-governor-bob-ferguson-bill-to-let-washingtons-own-department-of-health-issue-vaccine-guidance.html