Vaccine Injury Compensation Modernization Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3655 To amend the Public Health Service Act to make updates to the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 1, 2021 Mr. DOGGETT (for himself and Mr. UPTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to make updates to the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Vaccine Injury Com- 4 pensation Modernization Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. CHANGES TO VACCINE INJURY COMPENSATION 6 PROGRAM. 7 (a) SPECIAL MASTERS.— 8 (1) ESTABLISH MINIMUM NUMBER OF SPECIAL 9 MASTERS.—Section 2112(c)(1) of the Public Health 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3655.IH H3655 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3655 IH Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300aa–12(c)(1)) is amended 1 by striking ‘‘not more than 8’’ and inserting ‘‘not 2 less than 10’’. 3 (2) ADDITIONAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 4 Section 2112(c)(6)(E) of the Public Health Service 5 Act (42 U.S.C. 300aa–12(c)(6)(E)) is amended— 6 (A) by inserting after ‘‘disposition of peti- 7 tions,’’ the following: ‘‘the number of petitions 8 filed that are pending disposition, the number 9 of hearings scheduled with respect to a pending 10 disposition,’’; and 11 (B) by inserting ‘‘, including recommenda- 12 tions on whether additional special masters are 13 needed to ensure an expeditious and fair resolu- 14 tion of petitions or otherwise improve the Pro- 15 gram’’ after ‘‘in the Program’’. 16 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS FROM CDC.—Section 17 2114(e)(2) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 18 300aa–14(e)(2)) is amended— 19 (1) by striking ‘‘within 2 years of’’ and insert- 20 ing ‘‘within 6 months of’’; and 21 (2) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘adults, 22 or pregnant women’’ after ‘‘to children,’’. 23 (c) INCREASE IN COMPENSATION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3655.IH H3655 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3655 IH (1) COMPENSATION FOR DEATH.—Section 1 2115(a)(2) of the Public Health Service Act (42 2 U.S.C. 300aa–15(a)(2)) is amended to read as fol- 3 lows: 4 ‘‘(2) In the event of a vaccine-related death, an 5 award of— 6 ‘‘(A) if judgment on an award of com- 7 pensation is entered in calendar year 2021, 8 $600,000; or 9 ‘‘(B) if judgment on an award of com- 10 pensation is entered in a subsequent calendar 11 year, the amount equal to the dollar amount 12 applicable under this paragraph for the pre- 13 ceding calendar year, adjusted by the total per- 14 centage change that occurred during such pre- 15 ceding calendar year in the Consumer Price 16 Index for all urban consumers (all items; U.S. 17 city average).’’. 18 (2) COMPENSATION FOR PAIN AND SUF- 19 FERING.—Section 2115(a)(4) of the Public Health 20 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300aa–15(a)(4)) is amended 21 to read as follows: 22 ‘‘(4) For actual and projected pain and suf- 23 fering and emotional distress from the vaccine-re- 24 lated injury, an award not to exceed— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3655.IH H3655 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3655 IH ‘‘(A) if judgment on an award of com- 1 pensation is entered in calendar year 2021, 2 $600,000; or 3 ‘‘(B) if judgment on an award of com- 4 pensation is entered in a subsequent calendar 5 year, the amount equal to the dollar amount 6 applicable under this paragraph for the pre- 7 ceding calendar year, adjusted by the total per- 8 centage change that occurred during such pre- 9 ceding calendar year in the Consumer Price 10 Index for all urban consumers (all items; U.S. 11 city average).’’. 12 (d) INCREASE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—Section 13 2116(a)(2) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 14 300aa–16(a)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘36 months’’ and 15 inserting ‘‘5 years’’. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:31 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3655.IH H3655 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS