How To Improve Administration of the Federal Employees' Compensation Benefits Program

Considers S. 2517 and related H.R. 10721, to amend the Federal Employee Compensation Act to increase Federal employee workmen's compensation benefits. Also considers S. 3154, to permit injured Federal employees to utilize services of chiropractors, and S. 3253, to establish a Federal employee accident prevention program.

In FY2006, the Federal Employees¿ Compensation Act (FECA) program paid over $1.8 billion in wage loss compensation to federal employees who were unable to work after being injured on the job. This report examined: (1) how effectively the Dept. of Labor¿s Office of Workers¿ Compensation Programs (OWCP) manages the risk of improper FECA compensation payments; (2) what vulnerabilities to improper payments, if any, exist in OWCP¿s procedures for making FECA wage loss payments; and (3) how well OWCP ensures the recovery of identified FECA overpayments. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables.