Dear Primary Care Provider:

Gregory Larkin, M.D. Indiana State Health Commissioner

The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) has announced that it will delay the recently published guidelines on the use of publicly funded vaccine for fully insured individuals until Jan. 1, 2012. The previously published guidelines were established to bring ISDH and local health departments (LHD) in compliance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) requirements for the use of publicly funded vaccine and were to be implemented on July 1, 2011. This delayed implementation is to avoid the interruption of the existing immunization efforts of LHDs during the “back-to-school” immunization push when many children are getting caught up with vaccines to meet school entry requirements.

Due to the complexity of processes needed to best assure that both populations, the uninsured and insured, are appropriately accessing publicly funded and privately purchased vaccine supplies, the ISDH will be providing implementation instructions to local health departments starting in November 2011.

Local health departments have evolved in many counties to be the primary provider of all immunizations regardless of an individual’s insurance status. Although a process needs to be provided that allows ready access to immunizations for all individuals while assuring appropriate use of funding sources, more time will be needed to create a solution that is easily and fairly utilized in all local health departments. The ISDH is aggressively reviewing various solutions that will support the dedicated efforts of local health departments to deliver immunizations across the communities they support, including both uninsured and insured individuals.

Sincerely,

Gregory N. Larkin, MD, FAAFP, FACOEM

State Health Commissioner