H.R. 6839 — Vaccine Transportation Access Act

This section establishes a grant program, administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) through agreements with and fund transfers to state health agencies, under which qualified community organizations (i.e., nonprofits with experience managing federal grants and serving low-income, minority, or health-disparity communities) receive awards to finance transportation projects removing barriers to eligible vaccines (i.e., those recommended by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices as of October 25, 2024, or by U.S. professional medical societies) for individuals in such communities. Grant applications must describe the project, identify partners (e.g., private entities coordinating transportation), and specify performance measures to reduce missed vaccine appointments; each grant has a performance period of at least six months and may fund prescheduled or on-demand rides or first- and last-mile transportation services (i.e., from origin to public transit or directly to vaccine sites where transit is unavailable). Grantees must report performance to HHS six months after the performance period ends, and HHS must submit annual summaries to the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. The section authorizes such sums as necessary to carry out the program.

This section sets the Federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) at 100% (from each state's regular FMAP of 50%-83%) for amounts expended by states on nonemergency transportation benefits provided to Medicaid enrollees for eligible vaccines (as defined in section 2(f) of the Vaccine Transportation Access Act), for transportation costs incurred on or after the date of enactment. (As background, the FMAP determines the federal share of most Medicaid expenditures; nonemergency transportation is a mandatory Medicaid service to ensure enrollees can access covered medical care.)