Gardasil Will Be Covered by Insurance
Parents concerned about how to pay for the human papilloma virus vaccine for their sons can rest assured. The vaccine will be covered by health insurance, an insurance executive said.
An unnamed insurance company executive told Bloomberg that health plans will pay for the use of Merck & Co.’s Gardasil vaccine following a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation that boys as young as 9 get vaccinated for the disease.
Gardasil is used to prevent the transmission of HPV, which has been found to cause genital warts, cervical cancer, throat cancer, heart disease, and malignancies of the penis and anus in men.
The vaccine was first recommended for girls as young as 11. On Oct. 25, a CDC panel said that boys should begin receiving the vaccine as well – although it would be most effective for boys age 11 or 12.
Gardasil is administered in three doses and costs about $108 for patients on government insurance and about $130 for those privately insured. The Food and Drug Administration allowed Merck to market Gardasil in 2007. The company has exclusive rights to produce the drug.