Wyoming Buys Vaccines for Children

A program under which Wyoming pays for child vaccines went into effect Friday.

“This is an excellent investment in the health of Wyoming’s children,” state health officer Dr. Brent Sherard said in a statement.

Under the Wyoming Vaccinates Important People program, children whose parents or legal guardians are Wyoming residents are eligible to have the vaccines paid for by the state, regardless of whether the families have health insurance.

Parents will have to pay any administration fee or office fees charged by health care providers. Such fees may be covered by insurance, and administration fees are limited by law to a maximum of $14.31 per shot.

The Wyoming Legislature appropriated $5 million in 2006 to provide vaccines for children who do not qualify under the federal Vaccines for Children program.

Wyoming will still receive money under the federal program to cover Medicaid-enrolled, no insurance, Native American/Alaskan Native and underinsured children only at Rural Health Centers and federally qualified health centers.