Health plans should also offer information and counseling on the procedure to reduce related anxiety. Finally, Pap tests should be as convenient and accessible as possible. Preventing chicken pox, as opposed to letting the disease run its course, saves hundreds of lost school and work days, not to mention tens of millions of dollars in medical expenses. Public health officials now recommend that all children be immunized against chicken pox as part of the regular childhood immunization schedule. Current immunization efforts in plans that reported data to NCQA prevent about 439,000 cases of chicken pox every year.
Vaccines are among the most cost-effective medical interventions available.
The completed series of vaccines includes many different components. It is estimated that 1 million children in the U.S. do not receive the necessary vaccinations by age two. Childhood immunizations help prevent serious illnesses, such as polio, tetanus, whooping cough, mumps, measles and meningitis. Vaccines are an easy, proven way to help a child stay healthy and avoid the potentially harmful effects of childhood diseases. The specifications for this measure changed between the 1997 and 1998 reporting year.