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ExpectMore.govExpectMore.gov home pageEXPECT FEDERAL PROGRAMS TO PERFORM WELL, AND BETTER EVERY YEAR.
 
Program Assessment

Program

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Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program awards compensation to eligible claimants who are found injured by certain vaccines and provides liability protection to vaccine manufacturers. As of 2005, the program has awarded over $1.5 billion for vaccine-related incidents ranging from chronic arthritis to paralysis or death.

Rating

What This Rating Means

PERFORMING
Adequate

This rating describes a program that needs to set more ambitious goals, achieve better results, improve accountability or strengthen its management practices.
  • The program has made progress in achieving its annual performance goals, but its performance on long-term goals has been inconsistent. In particular, the program has experienced mixed results in ensuring that all eligible claimants are compensated and reducing the amount of time needed to process a claim.
  • The program's design contains flaws that hinder its ability to satisfy both claimants and vaccine manufacturers. Some of the design-related problems include loopholes allowing circumvention of the program, extensive delays in the processing of claims, and a large balance in the program's Trust Fund that remains unspent.
  • The Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services effectively collaborate to jointly administer the program. The two agencies have a good working relationship and coordinate well with one another and with the judges who adjudicate the claims.

Improvement Plan

About Improvement Plans

We are taking the following actions to improve the performance of the program:

  • Conducting an independent evaluation to assess the program's effectiveness, impact and design.
  • Improving the way the program projects its financial liabilities in future years.

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