During a House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) questioned Scott Szymendera of the Congressional Research Service in the U.S. Library of Congress, about improving healthcare access for federal workers.
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00:02Next, we will go to Chairman Wahlberg.
00:05Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thanks for the panel for being here.
00:08And while I have you here, letter carriers, I want to say thank you for the service you provide.
00:14Being in a rural area myself, it's a rural letter carrier.
00:18I think of most recently retired Jean, who took special attention to my late mother,
00:25who lived in a cottage on our property on the farm.
00:30And Jean always was sure where my mom was at and special needs were cared for.
00:36I didn't get the same care, but my mom did.
00:39So thank you.
00:40Thank you for the work that you do day in, day out.
00:43Last Thursday, Congressman Joe Courtney and I introduced H.R. 1370, or 3170,
00:49Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act.
00:53This bipartisan bill amends FECA to allow injured workers to receive treatment for work-related injuries
00:59from state-licensed physician assistants and nurse practitioners,
01:05which in my neck of the woods are, in many cases, the doctors in the rural community.
01:12This is prohibited under current law and is contributing to long delays in care for many federal workers.
01:19Delays in care means delays in injured workers returning to their jobs.
01:26Nurse practitioners and physician assistants are a critical component in our health care delivery network.
01:32And if we are trying to make the federal government more efficient,
01:38it makes no sense to prohibit workers from receiving care from a reputable NP or PA.
01:44H.R. 3170 updates the Federal Employees' Compensation Program to make it more efficient
01:51by improving access to care and getting federal employees back to work quicker.
01:57Mr. Simandera, as I mentioned, under current law,
02:02only physicians can certify a worker compensation claim in the FECA program.
02:10That's why Congressman Courtney and I introduced H.R. 3170 to allow NPs and PAs to treat FECA beneficiaries.
02:19Can you describe how this change would increase access to care for injured federal workers,
02:25especially for those in rural areas?
02:28One of the great strengths, one of the great advantages of the FECA program
02:35is the right to choose your treating physician.
02:38That is a right that is not given in a number of state workers' compensation programs.
02:45However, there have been persistent complaints about FECA and the other OWCP programs
02:52that while you have the right to choose your treating physician,
02:57there isn't a treating physician available for you to choose,
03:01especially when you are outside of the Washington area
03:05or other metropolitan areas that have potentially a lot of federal employees.
03:12Expanding the pool of providers to include nurse practitioners,
03:17physician assistants, or, as I think their National Academy now prefers to be referred,
03:23physician associates,
03:24physician associates could expand the pool and allow greater access to physicians.
03:32It also could bring certain nontraditional facilities,
03:36such as urgent care clinics or medical clinics in retail stores,
03:41into a greater role in providing care.
03:45The question that would have to remain to be seen
03:48is would this be enough to offset the problems that have got us here in the first place?
03:54with why we don't have enough physicians doing the treating.
03:59I have heard complaints about issues with the billing system,
04:03issues with frequent changes in the payment system
04:07that frustrate physicians and their staff,
04:10difficulty with websites,
04:12including difficulty that the claimants have
04:14navigating the website where you can find a physician,
04:19and an overall lack of awareness,
04:21for lack of a better word,
04:23marketing of the program to providers.
04:26So, increasing the pool,
04:29I think, would increase accessibility,
04:32but it's not the only potential solution
04:36to the problems of access to medical care.
04:40That is a start.
04:40Okay.
04:41In the final few seconds, Mr. Santos,
04:44you intimated the need for the ability for OWCP
04:50to access Social Security information.
04:54Expand on why that would be an important asset.
04:57Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
04:59It would be very helpful for OWCP
05:01to have access to both Social Security wage records
05:03as well as the national director on your hires.
05:06It would help, OWCP would be able to more quickly identify
05:10unreported income by claimants
05:12as well as detect claims who have returned to work.
05:16It would also, allowing for the timely and automated matching,
05:20cross-matching of these systems,
05:22would improve fraud prevention overall,
05:25improper payments prevention overall,
05:27as well as help the OWCP direct its very limited resources
05:32to those claims that require more attention
05:36from a fraud prevention perspective.
05:40And on the back end, it would assist the OIG
05:42in our efforts to investigate related crimes.
05:45Yeah.
05:46And save the proper funds for the proper recipients.
05:51That's right.
05:51I yield back.