GOA Report on the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program shows that there is room for improvement in the administration of

In November, the U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a report in which the GOA reviewed three facets of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program ("VICP"). The GOA looked at (1) the amount of time taken and methods by which claims were being adjudicated; (2) the changes made since 1999 to the Covered Vaccine Table and the corresponding effect of those changes on the number of claims filed and (3) the financial health of the program. While the overall financial health of the program is good, the GOA report identified areas of improvement. Of the areas that need improvement is the need to increase the promotion of the program by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees VICP, so that more citizens can take advantage of the program. It's also clear from the report that the addition of vaccines to the Covered Vaccine Table since 1999, but a reluctance to expand the corresponding Vaccine Injury Table has led to an increase in the number of claims contested by government lawyers and delays in resolving claims overall. For more information read the entire report here.