Injured federal employees say their treatable injuries are at risk of progressing into lifelong disabilities because the workers' comp program that covers their medical costs and procedures is backed up.
Getty Images; NBC NewsInjured federal employees say their treatable injuries are at risk of progressing into lifelong disabilities because the workers' compensation program that covers their medical costs and procedures is clogged by low staffing, convoluted processes and an increase in claims.
“It’s crazy,” said Lejeune, who can’t afford the $50,000 out-of-pocket estimate for the procedure and who has lost work and employment opportunities because of the injury. “It’s a complete nightmare.”The process has created delays for countless employees across the federal government’s numerous agencies, union officials and labor attorneys said. From the Federal Bureau of Prisons to the U.S.
In response, the Biden administration has increased staffing, hiring 281 new claims examiners and 55 medical treatment adjudicators to make the FECA program work better for claimants, according to the Labor Department data. Staffing levels are slowly climbing back to where they sat almost 10 years ago, and the agency said it has created new processes to escalate inquiries, simplified forms and hired an ombudsperson to investigate specific claims.
Pete Hobart, 50, a power plant mechanic at the Dalles Dam, which is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the border between Washington and Oregon, hurt a disk in his back while working in February 2022. With little information on how to navigate the process, it took 10 months for him to obtain the approval for surgery.
Two union representatives, each working for a different federal agency, said the problem is so pernicious that they sometimes advise members to file claims under their personal health insurance first and report the workers' compensation claim after they’ve received the necessary help — or avoid the process altogether.
Jim Karney, 55, who works as a hydropower plant operator in Idaho, slipped on ice outside the Corps dam he worked at two days before Christmas 2021. The accident, which injured both his shoulders, was recorded by cameras at the plant. After filing an OWCP claim, he was unable to receive approval for an MRI until February 2022, and then only for his left shoulder.
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