Vaccines and medicaid

[bluedaisy]

I am pg with our first baby and we are planning to either decline all vaccines or give only a few but not until 18 months or older.

DH is a full time grad student and I work PT - our baby will qualify for medicaid and our money is VERY tight right now so we are leaning towards using medicaid for the baby.

However, I am concerned about pressure from medicaid regarding vaccines - does anyone have experience with this?

I think my biggest concern (which may be completely unfounded?) is the stories I've heard about child services taking away children from parents who made medical choices that were not mainstream. I am concerned that being on government insurance might make us more of a target for something like this. I also don't know if medicaid will refuse to cover our child if we don't vaccinate.

Is there anyone who chose to delay or decline vaxes whose child(ren) were covered by medicaid? (we live in VA)

[Deborah]

the program in Vermont is called Doctor Dinosaur, my grandchildren have had coverage on and off for years, no problem.

it may vary by state, but in years on this board I've never heard of anyone having problems.

[angelpie545]

My kids have been on Medicaid since they were born and I've never had a problem declining vaccinations. Our state even has a vaccination registry-and still no issues. Legally, all you have to do is inform yourself (before problems, if any, ever arise) of the law in your state regarding vaccinations. I'm pretty sure VA has a religious exemption, and in my opinion that's the most solid exemption to go by. Simply go by the letter of the law to protect yourself but most likely you will be fine.

[Sheryl1678]

My dd has been on Medicaid since birth and I got quite a bit of grief from her ped when I stopped vaccinating (we did the whole shebang at first) but I have never had any problems whatsoever from either the state or Medicaid.

Congrats on your first and good luck.

[Gitti]

Since vaccines are not a law but only mandated for day care or school (with exemptions available), you should have no problem with medicaid.

Welcome to this forum and I want to add, good to see a mom researching before injection. You'll be so glad you did.