Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act. I am pleased that my colleague from Connecticut Senator Blumenthal is my lead…
Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act. I am pleased that my colleague from Connecticut Senator Blumenthal is my lead cosponsor on this bill.
Our bipartisan bill would allow physician assistants and nurse practitioners to certify disabilities and oversee treatment for Federal workers with injuries or illnesses that occur on the job, when doing so is consistent with the scope of their practice under State law.
Civil servants bring dedication, competence, and experience to their work, and this proposal affords them greater choice over their own healthcare in the event that they suffer a work-related injury or illness. Federal employees can already select a PA or NP as their primary healthcare provider within the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.
However, and inexplicably, the Federal Employees' Compensation Act permits only a physician to make the diagnosis, certify the injury and extent of the disability, and to oversee the patient's treatments and care when a Federal employee is injured on the job.
This bill would allow the more than 2 million Federal employees in our country, including more than 12,000 Federal employees in the State of Maine, the ability to receive their healthcare from the practitioner of their choice after a work-related injury. When they can make their own choice, they have access to more timely care and continuity of care. They are also having the decisions about their healthcare and the extent of their disability or illness made by their primary care physician who knows them best, who understands their healthcare history.
Mainers, especially in our very rural communities, are often cared for by nurse practitioners or physician assistants. They act as their primary care providers. Let me give you an example. Jackie Carter and Corinne Malenfant are two nurse practitioners with a primary care practice in Orland, ME. They have described the challenges they face when they treat Federal employees.
Despite being the chosen healthcare provider of their federally employed patients, Jackie and Corinne are not authorized to certify their patients' injuries and illnesses and oversee the care for their work-related injuries under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act. As a result, their patients can experience lengthy delays in starting treatment due to the requirement that only a physician can certify the injury and oversee the Federal employee's care while in the Workers' Compensation Program.
In some very rural communities, Mr. President--and I suspect this may be true in parts of your State as well--there simply aren't any physicians who are practicing, or they are unable to accommodate additional patients.
So think about the situation that is created here. A Federal employee, who has a primary care provider who is, say, a nurse practitioner or a physician assistant, is injured on the job, but instead of immediately being able to go to this primary care provider, they have to wait until they can get in to see a physician--a physician who may be miles away and unable to see them quickly, a physician who does not know their history. They can't proceed with getting the Federal employee's benefits and healthcare treatments they need to get well and return to work. That just makes no sense in rural America today.
It is important to emphasize that this bill defers to State law. It would not expand the scope of any practice. Instead, it would simply remove a barrier that prevents dedicated healthcare professionals from practicing as their State permits them to do.
NPs and PAs already provide a significant amount of healthcare to injured Federal employees, but within the Federal Employees' Compensation Act, while they are not currently authorized to certify injuries and oversee patient treatment, they are authorized to treat injured Federal employees and be reimbursed for their services but only in cases where a physician has first certified the injury and continues to oversee the treatment. That is redundant, it causes delays, and it does not make sense.
Federal programs have long recognized the importance of nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Yet the Federal Employees' Compensation Act is an outlier in the restrictive nature of the program when it comes to NPs and PAs and their patients. Modernizing the Federal Employees' Compensation Act through the reforms contained in this legislation would be consistent with the practices of numerous other Federal Agencies and programs, including Medicare, the Veterans' Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the Indian Health Service, and the Social Security Administration. They don't create this additional barrier.
In rural communities, NPs and PAs may well be the only provider within a reasonable distance. Delaying the certification of injuries or illnesses for Federal workers means delays in their care. The longer those delays take, the longer before they can get the treatment they need to return to their jobs.
I also want to note that this bill would not increase Federal spending. The Congressional Budget Office has found that this bill would have an insignificant net effect on direct spending, reasoning that while it may increase access to care for injured Federal employees, it would be offset by
enabling them to return to work more quickly and to continue to serve the American people.
Passage of the Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act is a winner across the board. It simply makes common sense. It provides our dedicated Federal employees with additional healthcare options when they need it most. It allows NPs and PAs to share the knowledge they already have about their patients and treat their illnesses and injuries that are work-related in a timely fashion.
I urge all of my colleagues to join Senator Blumenthal and me in supporting our bill.
