The state’s four largest health insurers — Anthem, Aetna, Cigna and Harvard Pilgrim — have agreed to cover H1N1 swine flu vaccinations for their policyholders. Maine’s insurance superintendent Mila Kofman announced the agreement Tuesday afternoon.
Although some insurance companies require full approval from the Food and Drug Administration before vaccine coverage is authorized, these health insurers will make an exception for the administration of the H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available, Kofman said.
“Given the potential for widespread outbreak of H1N1 influenza, I am pleased and encouraged by the proactive, voluntary steps taken by [the insurance companies] to ensure coverage for this vaccine,” Kofman said in a prepared statement. “These insurance companies deserve recognition for this significant decision — one with the potential to significantly reduce the spread of this strain of flu and possibly save lives.”
Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, highlighted the importance of the agreement. “With young people, pregnant women and those with underlying conditions being disproportionately affected by H1N1 … and with escalation of the disease quite likely sometime this fall, it will be important that those at risk have access to the H1N1 vaccine as soon as it is available,” she said.
State officials also are holding a daylong H1N1 summit in Augusta on Thursday aimed at coordinating efforts among schools, colleges, county-level emergency management agencies, municipalities, social service agencies and other groups.
Preparations for the flu season include plans to vaccinate as many Mainers as possible — especially schoolchildren and young adults — against the regular seasonal flu, and an additional campaign to administer the new H1N1 vaccine to high-risk groups as soon as it becomes available, according to Mills.