Originally published Committee Republicans call for investigation into federal workers’ compensation program on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/congress/2025/07/committee-republicans-call-for-investigation-into-federal-workers-compensation-program/ at Federal News Network
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Top Republicans on the House Education and Workforce Committee are pushing for an investigation into the long-standing workers’ compensation program for federal employees, saying the program is particularly “susceptible to waste, fraud and abuse.”
In a letter to the Government Accountability Office on Monday, Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) and Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.), chairman of the workforce protections subcommittee, requested a further examination into areas for reforms of the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) program, which provides benefits to federal employees who get injured or become ill from work.
In their letter, the GOP committee leaders argued that the program is “overly generous” to federal employees. The FECA program, which dates back to 1916, hasn’t seen any major updates in over 50 years.
“For too long, bad actors have exploited and taken advantage of FECA, increasing costs and making it harder for injured workers to get the help they need,” Walberg said in a statement to Federal News Network. “It’s time to build on committee efforts to improve this outdated — yet critically important — law to help workers see qualified care providers and get back on their feet while, at the same time, rooting out the fraud that has plagued FECA for decades.”
Run by the Department of Labor, FECA handles workers’ compensation claims and covers payments for lost wages, medical services, survivor benefits and prescriptions to about 3 million federal employees in cases of work-related injuries or illnesses. But for years, various oversight reports have shown that the agency struggles with managing some aspects of the program. The administration of medical benefits in FECA has remained one of DOL’s top management challenges since 2016.
In July 2020, GAO also reported that FECA benefits for federal employees often have discrepancies with benefits from the Federal Employees Retirement System, depending on the length of a federal employees’ career and at what point during their career they sustained an injury or illness.
Additionally, a 2013 GAO report found instances of improper payments made through FECA, which appear to stem in part from issues with oversight and access to data on federal employees. The DOL’s inspector general office has also found cases where federal employees overcharged FECA for prescriptions or services, or billed the government for non-existent injuries or illnesses.
“These reports provided policymakers and the public with important context about the adequacy of FECA benefits,” the GOP lawmakers wrote in their July 14 letter.
Walberg and Mackenzie are calling on GAO to further investigate several aspects of the program — including how well DOL is conforming with GAO’s standard fraud risk framework; if DOL calculates benefits payments in a way that ensures program integrity; and how FECA’s benefits compare to some state workers’ compensation programs.
“In light of the challenges facing the FECA program, we request that GAO examine the program’s integrity, efficiency and ability meet its primary goal of safely returning employees back to the workforce,” the lawmakers wrote.
Legislative changes for federal employees compensation
This year, bipartisan lawmakers have also been attempting to reform the FECA program through the “Improving Access to Workers’ Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act.” If enacted, the legislation would revise FECA to allow physician assistants and nurse practitioners to treat federal employees in workers’ compensation cases — something that is currently prohibited by law.
A previous version of the bipartisan legislation passed the House in 2022, but did not clear the Senate. In the current Congress, the bill has already gained some traction. The legislation advanced unanimously out of the Education and Workforce Committee in June.
Though there have been efforts in Congress attempting to reform the more than 100-year-old FECA program, the workers’ compensation program has not undergone any major legislative changes since 1974. In 2015, a separate bill attempted to let DOL access federal wage data, in an effort to improve the integrity of FECA. But at the time, the legislation was not passed — and the bill has not been reintroduced in a decade.
“If similar legislation were introduced in the 119th Congress and enacted, this legislation could help to prevent and detect improper payments in the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act program,” GAO wrote.
The GOP lawmakers’ request to GAO on Monday also comes after the House subcommittee on workforce protections held a hearing in May to examine opportunities for improving and reforming FECA.
“Taxpayers and federal workers deserve a program that is cost-effective, free from fraud and provides safe and medically necessary treatment for workers,” DOL acting Inspector General Luis Santos told the committee. “While the Department of Labor has made substantial improvements to the FECA program over the past 10 years, proper programmatic oversight must continue to ensure the medical benefits provided are safe, effective, necessary and economical.”
During the hearing, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), the subcommittee’s ranking member, argued that one of the best ways to ensure cost savings and efficiencies would be to invest in workers’ protections on the front end and try to avoid injury and illness in the first place. She said FECA reforms should center on updating outdated procedures, improving access to care, and ensuring injured federal employees can receive the benefits they need without being impeded by the claims process.
“We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but we can modernize the vehicle,” Omar said.
Omar added that any FECA program reforms should be made on a bipartisan basis to strengthen the program, rather than “dismantle it in the name of cost savings and efficiency.”
“FECA stands in as one of the last strongholds of workers-first compensation models,” Omar said in May. “Historically, this committee has shown that FECA reform does not have to be partisan. In fact, some of the most significant improvements have been made through bipartisan cooperation.”
No Democrats signed the committee leaders’ letter to GAO on Monday. But during the May hearing, Mackenzie expressed some interest in pursuing FECA reforms on a bipartisan basis.
“I think there is a path forward to do both of those things — crack down on waste, fraud and abuse, and make sure that we’re providing for injured federal workers,” Mackenzie said.
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Originally published Committee Republicans call for investigation into federal workers’ compensation program on by https://federalnewsnetwork.com/congress/2025/07/committee-republicans-call-for-investigation-into-federal-workers-compensation-program/ at Federal News Network
Originally published Federal News Network