Vaccine Costs

Sam Leuzzi MD Pediatrician SamLeuzziMD.com

Male 1: You practiced a long time, and things have changed. When you are first in practice, you—how do they gave immunizations you had little DPT, a little polio, and MMR and basically it was not a big headache to give vaccines. And the cost was a little bit, but it was not unreasonable. It seems to immunize of all these vaccines, a boy is about $1200.00 to $1300.00. And a girl is bout $1600.00 to $1700.00. In which a small practice would be, say $2000.00, and a bigger practice it is got to be 4000 patients. So you can see that a doctor for a thousand boys will lay out $1.2 million of polio vaccine. And the girl is $1.6 million, am I accurate making that statement? Male 2: I never figured it out but I think it is pretty close. And vaccines are—prices are going up everyday and --- Male 1: And you have the storage. I have a thousand dollars in the refrigerator. Male 2: Right Male 1: And if you have a power failure, a girl may start to cry. So that is a big headache. And when you get a vaccine, you either will make money out of it, you probably loose money, is that true? Male 2: You know there is a lot of cost that go into the vaccine, and when you think about it, and the storage, and the syringes, and all the stuff that goes with it [Voice overlap] labor, documentation, and reporting to the Board of Health in New York State. And, gets what and all that with each lot number, each expiration dated. So there is a lot that goes into it. Male 1: The Academy came and said that the true cost analysis of just giving the vaccine that break even with about 28 %, which is very similar to a drug, they will say for them to stay in business, they have to make-up about of 28 profit on their pharmaceutical land, or they cannot stay in business. So it is pretty similar. Male 2: Yes Male 1: We are not making them. We sometimes --we will get it back three, four, five dollars above plus. You cannot do that. Male 2: Right, so it needs to be a change and the analysis of all these, I think they should study and figure out a better way for the doctors, and the insurance companies to get together here. Male 1: Massachusetts and a lot of other states went to behind the vaccine, giving it to the doctor. The doctor gives the vaccine, gives a small administration fees, he does not touch the cost of the vaccine. So the practice is about threatened with the huge cost of buying vaccines. In fact that they want it too, the insurance company tell who is getting what vaccines to be reimbursement, like batch payment, back to a state agency. So the pediatrician will not be burden with this huge cost factors. Male 2: Yes and it is a huge burden and sometimes it needs to--you know, people complaining, why do not you have this vaccine, that vaccine, but we try to accommodate everyone and give everybody up to schedule and when vaccines are to be given. Male 1: And there were shortages all the time. Male 2: There is always shorted. Yes.