One of the little-known provisions of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act that Congress passed last fall requires all adult vaccines covered under Medicare Part D, like the one for shingles, be covered at no cost if they are recommended by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee.
This is good news for seniors considering many of the most vulnerable people in the country are seniors and disabled people on Medicare. In many cases, they are either unaware they need a particular vaccine, or they can’t afford it because of Medicare coverage limitations.
That lack of knowledge of the free vaccines may be reflected in the fact that fewer than half of Americans 65 and older have gotten the latest booster, and that only two-thirds of that age group have gotten even a single booster, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
According to Kaiser Health News, “Yet evidence continues to mount that it’s mostly the elderly who are at serious risk from covid. Death rates from the disease have declined in every age group except those over 75 since April, despite the uptick in new strains.”
Since the vaccines are free for seniors, and they could save your life, we urge you to talk to your doctor and get yours if you have not already done so.
