Do Americans get a free flu shot each year?

29 comments

1. Depends if they are covered by an insurance plan that pays for them or not. Many do cover one per year, no authorization needed.

   Otherwise they usually cost about $20-50 depending on pharmacy. Employers and college campuses sometimes will offer them free of charge to their communities to avoid lost productivity in the event of an outbreak

2. Yep. I get mine at work every year. You do have to show insurance so I’m sure it also depends on that.

3. It’s free through most if not all health insurance companies. I got mine at work this year since they have an on-site clinic and it’s free there.

4. I think many people do? Its definitely covered by almost all insurances and employers. You can get it at pretty much any pharmacy.

5. I work for a hospital, so mine was both required and free.

6. Americans with no health insurance (29 million at last estimate I read) were introduced to their first FREE shots when the Covid vaccines became available. Most of these people skipped flu shots due to the cost, as most of them were economically strained. If all of the 29 million uninsured were to somehow be covered by insurance tomorrow, the medical personnel and facilities necessary to take care of them do not exist. In America, “if they just made more money they would be fine”is a strange concept.

7. Mine is free with my insurance and I always get one.

8. Only if you have health insurance that covers the cost. I’ve had to pay for them in the past when I didn’t have insurance, and they are not cheap.

9. Mostly insurance pays for it. But even if you don’t have insurance, a lot of places give it out for free or very, very cheap.

10. my employer offers them free at work. I’m going get stabbed in a week

11. It’s widely covered by insurance and many government and NGOs will host or sponsor free clinics

12. I do, it’s free with insurance

13. My insurance plan covers flu shots at no cost to me

14. Public health offices usually hold clinics yearly that give them away for free for people who don’t have insurance.

15. Anyone who is covered by employer insurance, is over 65, is poor or disabled enough to qualify for Medicaid, is or was in the military or is a military spouse or child, or has Affordable Care Act marketplace insurance, can get a flu shot for free. This covers 92% of all Americans.

    There is also the federal government Vaccines for Children Program, which provides free vaccines, including flu vaccine, to people aged 19 or under. This program pays for the vaccine itself, but you might have to pay for an office visit to the doctor who administers it. This covers about half of the remaining 8%.

    The people who are left over usually have bigger problems than flu vaccine: they are undocumented (“illegal immigrants”) and thus unable to access government services generally, or they are homeless and/or mentally ill, or they qualify for services but don’t know it because of language or cultural barriers. There are a number of state and local government programs and private charities who focus on these populations, though again, flu vaccines aren’t always their highest priority.

    There are also places to get free flu shots regardless of any coverage. Some grocery store chains do this in the hope that you’ll think they are good members of the community and buy your heirloom broccoli there instead of elsewhere. Unfortunately they tend to target these programs to relatively affluent areas who don’t really need them, if for no other reason that that’s where their stores tend to be located.

    Virtually no-one actually pays for a flu shot. If they can’t get a free one by one or another method, they will generally just go without. And of course a lot of people who _can_ get a free one choose not to, because it disaligns their chakras or they don’t want Bill Gates controlling them with microchips or whatever. Trust in institutions is not super high.

16. I don’t know if they are technically free, but I’ve never know a person to pay for one.

17. My insurance company offers it for free.

    But I get it free from my work instead.

18. My county (and I’d assume most) has free flu shots for everybody in the fall, regardless of insurance. If someone is among the 90%+ with insurance, there’s no out of pocket fee for a flu shot.

19. I don’t personally, but I did when I was in school, because kids are nasty.

    I *always* got some pretty bad side-effects and would be out for a day or two after getting one, but anyone in my family who didn’t get one that year would actually get the flu, which is way worse.

20. My employer offers them for free. My insurance completely covers it if I get it anywhere else. I’ve also seen plenty of grocery stores and pharmacies offering free shots regardless of insurance.

21. [Last year over half of US adults got the flu shot](https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/10/survey-half-us-adults-plan-get-flu-shot). I am going to say YES to your question.

22. Not with the CDC saying they are only about 16% effective

23. Nothing médical is free in the US. Somehow it gets paid for usually out. Of pocket or insurance.

24. We have the ability to get a free flu shot every year. More people need to learn to take advantage of it, though.

25. Our insurance only pays if you show up on the day they are giving it out at my husband’s job. I always pay $35ish at Walgreens for it instead.

26. Nope. Depends on your insurance. I got mine on Wednesday and it cost me 30 with insurance. Absolutely ridiculous.

27. No idea. I haven’t had the flu in 27 years and the one time I got the flu shot I reacted poorly to it, so I don’t get it.

28. It’s offered. Some people refuse to get it

29. If an American wants a flu shot, generally speaking, they can get one for free.

    I’ve never seen an insurance plan that didn’t cover flu shots, and there are lots of places uninsured people can get one for free. My pharmacy offers them free, a lot of employers offer them free, there’s a free flu shot clinic at my city’s day of the dead festival every year.