Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program
Information for Healthcare Providers

Printer-friendly versionpdf icon
VFC will benefit your patients and your practice!
The VFC program provides all routine vaccines recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at no cost to the participating healthcare provider.
Benefits of the VFC program
Being a VFC provider is a sound investment in your practice and patients. It reduces your up-front costs because you will not have to pay to purchase vaccines for VFC-eligible children. Also, you can charge an administrative fee to offset your costs of doing business. Your patients benefit because they won’t have to go somewhere else to get the vaccines they need.
The VFC program will:
- Keep your patients in their medical home
- Reduce your up-front costs
- Help provide quality care to vulnerable children and adolescents
VFC Eligibility
Patients are eligible until they turn 19, if they meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Medicaid-eligible
- Uninsured
- American Indian or Alaska Native (AI/AN)
- Underinsured (Underinsured children can only be vaccinated at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) or Rural Health Center (RHC)
Becoming a VFC provider
You don’t have to be a Medicaid provider to participate in VFC. Any health care provider authorized by their state to prescribe vaccines can be a VFC provider.
- Contact your state/local/territory VFC coordinator to request enrollment.
- Complete the State Provider Enrollment forms and return them as soon as possible.
- Once you have completed and returned enrollment forms, prepare for a site visit to go over the program’s administrative requirements and proper storage and handling of vaccines.
Underinsured means your patient has health insurance, but it won’t cover the vaccine(s) because the insurance:
- Doesn’t cover any vaccines.
- Doesn’t cover certain vaccines.
- Covers vaccines, but it has a fixed dollar limit or cap for vaccines. Once that fixed dollar amount has been reached, your patient becomes eligible for VFC vaccines.