CBO: Total benefits provided to injured federal workers unlikely to change, although treatment for some could come sooner. Image: Katherine Welles/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffA bill to expand the role of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in providing services under the Federal Employees Compensation Act has passed the House Education and Workforce Committee on a bipartisan vote.
Under the bill, they would be authorized to perform certain roles reserved to physicians under current law.
These include to: certify the nature of an injury and probable extent of disability; prescribe or recommend treatment; provide prescribed treatment; and participate, with a physician designated by the Department of Labor, in a mandatory workers’ compensation examination of an injured employee.
The CBO in its analysis said it expects that “total benefits provided to injured federal workers would not significantly change,” although “some people may receive treatment more quickly under the bill.”
FECA provides workers compensation benefits to federal employees who sustain job-related injuries or illnesses. The law also guarantees employees certain job rights upon recovery. Upon their return to work, employees will be treated as though they had never left for purposes of rights and benefits based upon length of service.
Job restoration rights following injury or illness
Virtually all federal employees (including employees in the legislative and judicial branches, as well as rehired annuitants), except those serving under time-limited appointment, have restoration rights upon full or partial recovery from a job-related injury or illness. To be eligible for restoration, the employee must have been receiving benefits from OWCP (or have been eligible for OWCP benefits).
Note: Receipt of a “schedule award” which OWCP pays to an injured worker for permanent impairment of a specified member, function, or organ of the body (such as an arm, foot, lung, or loss of vision or hearing) does not necessarily mean the individual has recovered for purposes of restoration rights.
It only means that part of the body has reached maximum medical improvement. Restoration rights for full recovery are triggered when compensation is terminated on the basis of medical evidence that the employee no longer has residual limitations from the injury and can return to the former job without limitations.
The restoration rights of employees who sustain compensable injuries fall into four separate categories depending on the length and extent of recovery. Other factors affecting restoration rights are the timeliness of the application for restoration, the employee’s performance and conduct prior to the injury, and the availability of positions. Full recovery is determined by the cut-off of compensation on the basis that the employee is medically able to resume regular employment.
For purposes of restoration rights, a position with the same seniority, status, and pay means a position equivalent to the former one in terms of pay, grade, type of appointment, tenure, work schedule, and, where applicable, seniority. Standing in the organization, such as first or second supervisory level, is not a factor.
The four categories are: Fully recovered within one year; Fully recovered after one year; Physically disqualified; Partially recovered.
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See also,
How Do Age and Years of Service Impact My Federal Retirement
The Best Ages for Federal Employees to Retire
