Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been implementing an anti-vaccine strategy that includes targeting a federal program that pays money to patients injured by immunizations, people familiar with the planning told KFF Health News.

The plan involves expanding the types of injuries eligible for compensation, potentially overwhelming the fund with claims that could bankrupt the program. Other elements of the strategy include a potential mandate that vaccine makers stop using a common additive, forcing them to make expensive reformulations or exit the market altogether.

The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has paid out more than $5 billion since its inception in 1988 with funds from a small tax on vaccines. The program was established to compensate patients for i

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