Reps. Courtney and Walberg Team Up for Bipartisan Bill to Improve Access to Health Care for Federal Employees

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT-02) and Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI-07) introduced a new bipartisan bill to help federal employees who were injured on-the-job with improved access to health care coverage through the federal workers' compensation program (FECA). Courtney and Walberg's Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act would amend the existing Federal Employees Compensation Act, or FECA—the primary workers' compensation program for all U.S. federal employees—to allow federal employees to seek treatment for work related injuries, including COVID-19, from Physician Assistants (PAs) and Nurse Practitioners (NPs).

As the U.S. economic recovery moves ahead and federal workers continue to seek treatment for workplace illness and injury including COVID-19, Reps. Courtney and Walberg's Improving Access to Workers' Compensation Act would make corrections to FECA to ensure that America's largest swath of workers—federal employees—aren't barred from seeking care for COVID-19 or other workplace illness and injury from PAs and NPs, who are increasingly their primary care providers. NPs and PAs are crucial members of the health care delivery system, especially in rural and underserved areas. This commonsense update to federal employee worker compensation law is long overdue and will help reduce the administrative barriers to these benefits that workers are entitled to.

Rep. Courtney spoke more about the new bipartisan bill during today's hearing of the House Education and Labor Committee, titled "Strengthening the Safety Net for Injured Workers." Click here to watch.

"We're coming off of record job numbers from October, but we need to keep our foot on the gas in terms of getting America's labor force fully recovered and in full-swing," said Rep. Courtney. "One way we can do that is simply by making sure that America's workers can easily get treated by their health care provider if they get sick or hurt on the job, so that they can get healthy, take care of their families, and get back on the job with as little disruption as possible. That's exactly what our bipartisan bill does—a simple fix to FECA that makes it a lot easier for America's largest group of workers, federal employees, to get care from PAs and NPs so that they can get on their way with recovery. These are the sorts of real-world issues Congress should be focused on, and I'm glad to partner with Rep. Walberg to do it in bipartisan fashion."

"Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants provide much-needed health care services, and this bipartisan legislation will make a pivotal change to allow individuals covered by the federal workers' compensation program to receive medical care from these valued health providers," said Rep. Walberg. "I look forward to working with Rep. Courtney to permanently fill this coverage gap and get this commonsense legislation signed into law."

The federal government is the largest employer in the nation, and FECA provides federal employees with work-related disability and medical benefits, as well as survivors benefits to the families of employees killed on the job. In March, the American Rescue Plan Act (H.R. 1319) created a presumption of FECA eligibility for cases of COVID-19, an important piece of the puzzle in ensuring that a large swath of America's workers would be covered, cared for, and able to return work in the event they contracted COVID-19. However, although many federal employees rely on PAs and NPs as their primary care providers, current law prohibits them from being reimbursed for caring for FECA patients, and from providing medical evidence to support a FECA benefit claim.

The bipartisan Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act would make a simple but important correction to FECA, enabling PAs and NPs to be compensated for care through the program, expanding access to health care for federal workers, and providing a boost to the health of America's labor force. The bill was introduced this week with support from both sides of the aisle, and with the support of organizations representing health care providers nationwide, like the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) and the American Association of Physician Assistants (AAPA).

"On behalf of the over 325,000 nurse practitioners (NPs) nationwide, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) would like to thank Representatives Courtney and Walberg for introducing the Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act," said AANP President April N. Kapu, DNP, APRN, ACNP-BC, FAANP, FCCM, FAAN. "This legislation will improve access to care and patient choice by allowing federal employees who are injured or become ill during their employment to select an NP to certify their workplace injury or illness, as well as oversee their care in the federal workers' compensation program. This legislation will update the federal workers' compensation program to better reflect our nation's health care system where NPs are the provider of choice for millions of patients. AANP urges Congress to pass this legislation to improve access to health care for federal employees."

"The American Academy of PAs thanks Rep. Joe Courtney and Rep. Tim Walberg for their dedication and commitment to improving health care access for federal employees. By introducing the Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act, their critical legislation would expand access to high-quality, cost-effective healthcare delivered by PAs and will ensure PAs are recognized under the Federal Employees' Compensation Program to diagnose medical conditions, certify injury and extent of disability, and oversee patient treatment and care. The current policy excludes PAs from this program and creates an outdated, overly burdensome barrier that reduces access to care for approximately 2 million federal employees," said AAPA President and Board Chair Jennifer Orozco, MMS, PA-C, DFAAPA.

For more information on the Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act, email Rep. Courtney's office.

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