House Committee Advances Bills Easing Federal Employees Access to Workers Comp
Helen H. Richardson | Denver Post
The House Education and Health Committee has advanced Improving Access to Workers’ Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act (H.R. 6087). The bill would enhance federal employees' access to benefits by expanding who can diagnose and treat workplace injuries and illnesses to include nurse practitioners (NP) and physician’s assistants (PA).
Reps. Joe Courtney (D-CT) and Tim Walberg (R-MI) introduced the legislation late last year.
Under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA), only physicians are authorized to diagnose and treat workplace injuries and illnesses. As nurse practitioners and physician assistants fill in for primary care providers, Rep. Courtney stated the status quo is becoming increasingly problematic.
“Right now, injured workers can only receive care that they’re entitled to if it’s provided by a physician, and only a physician can certify a claim but as we know, nurse practitioners and physician’s assistants over the last 20 years are a growing portion of the primary care and health care workforces nationwide, especially in rural areas,” stated Rep. Courtney, “Many patients are perfectly comfortable being treated by NPs and PAs and many may be treated by an NP or a PA much more quickly than by a physician.”
The committee also advanced the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act (H.R. 2499) which would presume that heart disease, lung disease, and certain types of cancer are caused by employment for purposes of workers' compensation benefits for federal firefighters.
For the purposes of securing employee compensation benefits, the bill presumes that federal wildland firefighters developed the disease due to on-the-job exposure to smoke and other hazardous materials. A similar provision would state that any disability or death of an employee under such circumstances is presumed to be the result of personal injury sustained at work.
“Federal firefighters work side by side with their municipal and state firefighting peers, and it is unfair that federal firefighters are treated differently based solely on their employer. Forty-nine states have established presumptions, and the federal government has not," stated Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA), "This bill has been introduced in every Congress since 2001, so if there was a concern about the need for studies, this committee could have requested it at any time in the last 21 years."
Along with firefighting, covered occupations include paramedics, emergency medical technicians, rescue workers, ambulance workers, or hazardous material workers. The resumption applies to workers who have worked in these occupations for at least five years and received a diagnosis within ten years of employment.