Summary
The Trump administration announced changes to how health care quality, particularly immunization, will be assessed in 2026. The changes involve removing certain vaccination measures from the evaluation of health care services under Medicaid and CHIP, thus making immunization a personal choice. These measures were previously required and influenced the assessment of health care quality.
Key Facts
- The Trump administration has made changes related to immunization assessments starting in 2026.
- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will remove four measures about childhood and prenatal immunization from evaluation sets.
- Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr emphasized the importance of informed consent and medical freedom.
- The CDC changed its stance in 2025, leaving COVID-19 vaccination decisions to individuals and their doctors.
- The assessment changes mean immunization coverage will not influence Medicaid and CHIP service quality evaluations.
- Supporters say this change will prevent financial penalties for doctors if patients refuse vaccines.
- Childhood immunization status, adolescent immunizations, and prenatal immunization measures will be voluntary rather than mandatory.
- Declining vaccination rates in the U.S. are raising concerns about the resurgence of certain preventable diseases.
