Created in the 1980s, the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) is a foundational component of the United States’ vaccine policy framework. Envisaged as a no-fault compensation system both to provide appropriate redress for vaccine-related injuries and to preserve the conditions necessary for continued vaccine development, it has taken on new significance due to federal vaccine policy changes. In a new insight, Director of Health Care Policy Michael Baker provides an analysis of the VICP and what alterations to the program could mean for public health.

Key points:

• The VICP is designed to preserve vaccine supply and demand, stabilize costs, and prevent liability spirals while compensating individuals who experience rare injury from covered vaccines.
• Its operations reflect the delicate balance that policymakers sought to strike: ensuring that individuals with legitimate claims have access to fair and timely compensation while protecting a socially and medically indispensable industry from the volatility of conventional litigation.
• Proposals that weaken the VICP risk jeopardizing efficient relief for the injured, further eroding vaccine development, curtailing vaccine availability, and limiting the enormous public health benefits from broad-based immunization.

Read the analysis.