Senators Win Victory for Former Hanford Workers Trying to Receive Compensation for Illnesses
Cantwell hopes transferring failed Dept. of Energy program toDept. of Labor will speed up workers' claims
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Former Department of Energy (DOE) workers and family survivors have new hope of being compensated for work-related illnesses because of new reforms included in the Fiscal Year 2005 National Defense Authorization Act (HR 2400). The Defense bill's conference report, filed today, will move a failing DOE program to the Department of Labor (DOL), where World War II and Cold War veterans have been far more successful in receiving medical care and compensation for illnesses and injuries suffered as a result of their work within the nation's nuclear weapons complex.
"The Department of Energy has had an abysmal track record of fulfilling its obligations to its workers and their families," Cantwell said. "It's time for the federal government to step up to the plate and repay the World War II and Cold War veterans for their service to our country. They deserve a compensation program that works—not pointless paperwork and more excuses."
Both the DOE and DOL programs were created as a result of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000 (EEOICPA). U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), who has been pushing for the program's transfer for a year, is hopeful that the changes included in the Defense Authorization bill will bring speedier assistance and more certainty to former Hanford workers and their survivors.
While the Department of Energy's program was envisioned as a way to provide assistance to individuals who became ill as a result of their work at sites such as Hanford, the program has suffered epic bureaucratic problems. Although DOE has received over $90 million for administrative costs during the past four years, only about five percent of the over 25,000 claims filed have been completely processed. The DOL has successfully processed over 95 percent of its 55,000 claims.
In addition to the program's transfer to DOL, the Cantwell-backed reforms included in HR. 2400 will create an Office of Ombudsman to assist workers in filing claims and appealing those that might be denied. The changes also solve a problem with the previous DOE program, where—even after physicians had certified that a worker suffered an occupational illness—no entity could be found to pay the worker's compensation claim and medical benefits, since many DOE contractors have come and gone since World War II. The new reforms solve this "willing payer" problem, by allowing workers to opt into a federally-funded system that will provide medical benefits, as well as compensation payments of up to $250,000 under this portion of the program.
Cantwell's efforts to reform the EEOICPA program began last fall, when she and a bipartisan group of Senators fought to include a provision transferring the DOE program to DOL in the final Fiscal Year 2004 Energy and Water Appropriations legislation. The provision was eliminated during conference negotiations on last year's bill. However, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, of which Cantwell is a member, subsequently held hearings on the failing DOE program, including a forum last March in which, Cantwell called for an end to the "bureaucratic bottlenecks" that continue to prevent many of Hanford's "Cold War veterans" from being compensated for their work-related illnesses.
Those efforts led to a Cantwell-cosponsored amendment (SA 3438), which was added in June to the Senate's version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005. During conference negotiations on the bill, Senators advocating for changes in the program overcame continued opposition from the Administration to force inclusion of the EEOICPA reform provisions and transfer of the program to the Department of Labor.
Details of the program are listed below:
EEOICPA Reform Act of 2004 New Subtitle E – Replaces Subtitle D
Compensation for Illnesses caused by Toxic Substances
Benefits
Offsets and Caps
There is no offset between benefits under Subtitle B and Subtitle E. The cap for benefits under Subtitle E is $250,000.
Compensation for Workers
· Medical Care for all covered conditions.
Cash benefits for permanent impairment : this is the physical damage caused by the covered illness. Workers receive $2,500 for every percent point of impairment. For example, a worker with a 12 % permanent impairment caused by their covered illness will receive 12 X $2,500 or $30,000. Workers who were unable to maintain their income because of their covered illness will receive a payment for each year they lost the wages before age 65. $10,000 for each year where a covered condition prevented a worker from making at least 75% of their pre-illness wage before age 65. $15,000 for each year where a covered condition prevented a worker from making at least 50% of their pre-illness wage before age 65.
Compensation for Survivors:
Eligible survivors are surviving spouses and children who were minor or dependent at the time of death.
If a worker dies of a covered condition , their eligible survivor will receive $125,000. If a worker has died of a covered condition, and worker was unable to earn at least 50% of their pre-illness wage for at least 10 years before age 65 because of the covered illness, the eligible survivor will $150,000 . If a worker has died of a covered condition, and worker was unable to earn at least 50% of their pre-illness wage for at least 20 years before age 65 because of the covered illness, the eligible survivor will $175,000. Eligible survivors will receive the highest of the dollar amounts above for which they qualify.
EEOICPA Reform Act of 2004 New Subtitle E – Replaces Subtitle D
Compensation for Illnesses caused by Toxic Substances
Eligibility
· All DOE contractor workers with covered illnesses and their survivors are eligible to apply.
· Survivors of eligible deceased workers include: surviving spouses, children who are minor at the time of death, and other dependents
Causation Determinations and Case Processing
· Causation determinations and case development are moved to the DOL.
· Causation standard remains the same for Subtitle E as it was under Subtitle D.
· Positive findings from Subtitle B are accepted in Subtitle E for the same illnesses.
Payment of Compensation
· All valid claims will be paid by the Department of Labor – there is no need to go to any state workers' compensation system.
· Every valid claim will be paid by Department of Labor – No need to find a ‘willing payer'.
· Survivors receive compensation if the worker's death was caused by the covered illness and/or for work the worker missed due to the illness.
· Benefits are the same for workers wherever they worked in the DOE complex.
Benefits
· Benefits are provided for damage to a worker's body and for work missed work due to the illness.
· Medical benefits are paid in a uniform manner through the DOL just like Subtitle B. Benefits are workers' compensation medical benefits, meaning that there are not co-payments or deductibles to workers. All covered conditions will receive medical care.
Office of Ombudsman
· Establishes Office to assist claimants with claims in this program on matters ranging from filing a claim to filing an appeal.
Administrative Matters
· DOE will continue to gather employment, exposure, facility and medical records.
· DOE will provide to DOL all information and data they have gathered thus far for this program.
Residual Contamination at Atomic Weapons Employer (AWE) Facilities
· After DOE completed work in some AWE facilities, significant DOE radioactive contamination remained.
· This provision allows some additional workers from those facilities to apply to DOL for benefits under Subtitle B.
Funding
· Funding for the medical and workers' compensation benefits in this program are from DOL and are mandatory funds.
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