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Arizona Senate passes bill targeting doctor pay for vaccine rates amid measles surge

A health care worker places a bandage on a child after giving a vaccination shot. New federal guidance to reduce the number of recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11 comes as states are already charting their own course on vaccine policy. (Photo by Scott Housley/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

An Arizona senator and vaccine skeptic says legislation she proposed would help unvaccinated children get access to health care, but her bill doesn’t address the reason that many pediatricians’ offices say they won’t treat unvaccinated kids.

Sen. Janae Shamp, a vaccine skeptic who says she was fired from a nursing job for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, said on the Arizona Senate floor Tuesday that it was time to end incentives for doctors to turn away kids who aren’t vaccinated. Her Senate Bill 1212 would bar insurance companies, including Medicaid, from reimbursing doctors at a different rate based on patients’ refusal to get vaccinated.

“This specifically comes from a lot of parents asking for help for their children to be able to go to a pediatrician’s office when they don’t meet the entire vaccine schedule minimums to go to a practice,” the Republican from Surprise said. “This is about equity for all patients.”

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The false claim that doctors encourage childhood vaccinations in exchange for bonuses has been pushed for years, including by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. But the truth is that most doctors either break even or lose money on vaccines because of the high costs associated with storage and administration.

About 50% of pediatricians receive flat fees as part of “value-based contracts” that take into account numerous health-promoting practices, including things like preventative screenings and vaccination rates. Shamp’s proposal would ban vaccination rates from being included.

And nearly half of pediatricians either dismiss or don’t accept unvaccinated children as patients, but many say their reasoning is to protect the health of their other patients, not because of reimbursement rates.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians both discourage the practice of physicians dismissing patients due to their refusal to vaccinate.

During a Feb. 16 Senate Finance Committee hearing, Shamp said that SB1212 aligns with changes in attitudes and guidance regarding vaccines at the federal level.

In January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced changes to its recommended childhood vaccine schedule, decreasing the number of recommended vaccinations. This change came without an intensive review process that had previously been standard before any changes were made.

Kennedy has long been an anti-vaccine activist, and since taking office has continued to sow distrust in vaccines, even as he claims he’s trying to do the opposite.

As debunked claims that vaccines are dangerous, haven’t been properly tested and cause autism were brought into the mainstream by people like RFK Jr., childhood vaccination rates have plummeted. That led to an increase in measles outbreaks across the country and in Arizona.

According to the CDC, there were 2,283 measles cases reported in the United States in 2025. Just over two months into 2026, more than 1,200 cases have already been reported.

In 93% of those cases, the patients were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status. Three people died of measles last year and 242 were hospitalized. So for this year, there have been 62 hospitalizations and no deaths.

In Arizona, there were 220 reported cases of measles in 2025 and 57 so far in 2026, with most cases in Mojave County.

The CDC estimated that, in the 2024-25 school year, nearly 89% of Arizona’s school children were vaccinated for measles, mumps and rubella, which is still on the list of recommended vaccines. A 95% vaccination rate is generally necessary for herd immunity.

Before voting against SB1212 on Tuesday, Sen. Mitzi Epstein, D-Tempe, said that the bill would contribute to the increasing cost of health care.

“The current system allows market forces to work,” she said. “Insurance companies need to have the right to incentivize medically accurate choices that their patients make.”

Only three members of the public officially registered in support of the bill, while 214 opposed it.

The bill passed the Senate on a vote of 16-13, along party lines. It will next head to the Arizona House of Representatives for consideration.

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