Reps. Courtney and Walberg’s Bill to Improve Federal Employees’ Access to Health Care Passes House

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT-02) and Rep. Tim Walberg's (R-MI-07) bill to improve federal workers' access to health care coverage, the Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act (H.R. 6087), was passed in the House of Representatives on a strong bipartisan basis. Reps. Courtney and Walberg introduced H.R. 6087 in December 2021 to amend the existing Federal Employees Compensation Act, or FECA—the workers' compensation program for the vast majority of U.S. federal employees—to allow injured workers to receive treatment for work related injuries from state-licensed Physician Assistants (PAs) and Nurse Practitioners (NPs). PAs and NPs are increasingly taking on the role of primary care providers for many patients, but current law prohibits federal workers from being treated by PAs and NPs for worker compensation cases, even in states that allow PAs and NPs to practice independently.

Courtney and Walberg's bipartisan bill earned the support of organizations representing both health care providers and federal employees nationwide, like the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), the American Association of Physician Assistants (AAPA), the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU). The bill 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 Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act was passed by the House today by a vote of 325-83.

"Whether we represent rural or urban districts, every member of Congress is hearing about the shortage of physicians we're facing across the country," said Rep. Courtney. "That's why it's important to intelligently reform outdated policies that are preventing a major portion of America's workforce—federal employees—from accessing health care efficiently when they get hurt on the job, and it's why we introduced the Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act. Our bill will make corrections to FECA that will relieve pressure on the physician shortage by ensuring federal employees can visit licensed Nurse Practitioners and Physician's Assistants as their primary care providers when they need treatment for workplace injuries or illnesses, which they're currently barred from doing. Our bill would tweak FECA to enable NPs and PAs to certify workers' claims, get reimbursed, and help federal employees from the Park Service, to the Postal Service, to the 1,000 federal workers at SUBASE New London—including firefighters, police officers, and crane operators—to get healthy and back on the job sooner. I was proud to introduce this bill with Representative Tim Walberg of Michigan, and grateful to receive such strong bipartisan support both in Committee and on the House Floor this evening. This bill is important for health care workers and for America's workforce, and the Senate should waste no time voting on it now that the House has passed it."

"AAPA commends the sponsors of H.R. 6087, Rep. Joe Courtney and Rep. Tim Walberg, for securing support for this legislation that 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," AAPA President and Chair of the Board Jennifer M. Orozco, DMSc, PA-C, DFAAPA said. "The current policy excludes PAs from this program and creates an outdated barrier that reduces access to care for approximately 2 million federal employees covered by FECA. We urge the Senate to quickly pass this legislation to correct this unreasonable restriction for federal employees and ensure injured federal workers have better access to quality care without increasing federal spending."

More Information on the Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act

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 modernize 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 would help these workers get treatment faster and return to work more quickly.

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 2021, 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 within their state scope of practice, 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. Rep. Courtney introduced the bill in December 2021 with support from both sides of the aisle. The bill has also garnered support of organizations representing health care providers and federal employees nationwide, like the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), the American Association of Physician Assistants (AAPA), the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU).

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