NEW YORK, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Broad U.S. health insurance

coverage of the COVID-19 vaccine is not likely to change this

fall even after the Food and Drug Administration limited the

shot to people 65 and older or those with health conditions,

sources at two insurance trade organizations said.

Coverage could change starting in January 2026 when health

plans offer new annual benefits and depending on the type of

recommendations made in the coming months by the U.S. Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention's outside committee of

advisers, they added.

U.S. insurers currently provide broad coverage at no cost

for the initial shots and annual COVID boosters based on

recommendations from that committee, known as the Advisory

Committee on Immunization Practices, as required by the

Affordable Care Act.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic,

has questioned the safety of vaccines used against COVID and

changed who is eligible for the shots. He replaced all 17

advisory committee members with those who share his views and

announced the CDC would stop recommending the COVID vaccine for

pregnant women and healthy children.

Kennedy's pick for CDC director, Susan Monarez, was

fired on Wednesday, a move she attributed to the agency's

vaccine policy changes, a close associate said.

Kennedy also brought in FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, who

led the FDA in narrowing its approval to people aged 65 and

older or those aged 6 months to 64 years at risk of severe

disease. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has

said others can get the shots in consultation with their

doctors.

"Individual health plans and plan sponsors will be prepared

to make coverage decisions informed by science, the latest

medical evidence and data," a spokesperson for industry trade

association America's Health Insurance Plans said.

The spokesperson said that determinations will be

evidence-based and will consider recommendations made by the

CDC's committee of outside advisers.

A spokesperson for CVS Health's ( CVS ) insurer Aetna said

that for plans it operates and funds, the company will continue

to provide coverage for COVID vaccines with no cost sharing.

UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ) and Cigna ( CI ) did not

immediately respond to requests for comment.