Federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Programs: Overview and Current Issues Authors: Josh Michaud and Jennifer Kates Published: May 15, 2026

https://www.kff.org/other-health/federal-vaccine-injury-compensation-programs-overview-and-current-issues/ For decades, the federal government has overseen two key vaccine injury compensation programs: the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) and the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP). The VICP and CICP are designed to help maintain vaccine access while also recognizing that vaccine injuries can occur and those affected by such injuries should be compensated. However, over time, the demands on, and challenges faced by, these programs have grown. Recently, they have become targets of criticism from members of the Trump administration, including the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ,who said (without evidence) in 2025 that VICP had “devolved into a morass of inefficiency, favoritism, and outright corruption” and that he would lead an effort to overhaul it...