When insurance is not enough: racial and ethnic disparities in immunizations for the Medicare population

This review article discusses disparities in immunization rates for beneficiaries of the US Medicare program. The review considers: 1) historical and statistical information on rates of immunization; 2) goals set forward by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities related to adult immunization; 3) barriers experienced by Medicare beneficiaries in receiving immunizations; 4) barriers experienced by health professionals in providing adult immunizations; and 5) CMS efforts to increase influenza and pneumococcal immunization rates and to eliminate immunization rate disparities among Medicare beneficiaries.