Federal employees live and work in every part of our country. Some work at desks, processing all sorts of paperwork while others are on the front lines of protecting our national security. One constant is that all of them work with varying levels of injury risk and are sometimes injured as a result of their employment.
When a federal employee is injured on the job, they must file a workers compensation claim with the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers Compensation Programs (OWCP). They are assigned a claim number and a claims examiner makes a determination on the merits of the file and either accepts or denies the claim. If the claim is accepted, the injured federal employee is allowed to get medical care under the OWCP claim and all medical expenses that arise in connection with the approved injury are covered by the federal government. If the injury is severe and the claimant needs to miss work as a result, they are eligible to file for Lost Wage Compensation and be paid while they are off. Payments are made tax free at the rate of 75% is the worker has dependents and 66% if they do not.
If the claim is denied, the claimant can appeal the decision and submit more compelling medical documentation that supports their claim.
At FedDoctor, we try to help injured federal employees find doctors who understand what the OWCP requires to accept a claim, and then treat the injured worker and provide the types of reports and documentation to help them secure the federal workers compensation benefits that they are entitled to.
Your doctor plays one of, if not the most important roles in your claim. Every benefit you want, need, or are entitled to must come on the basis of medical rationale. If the medical file doesn’t warrant the treatments or payments, it will usually not get approved. If your doctor doesn’t understand the federal system, they often get frustrated and lose interest in working with you and your claims examiner. Finding a doctor that does understand can make all of the difference.
If you are looking for a good doctor to help you, consider using our search tool at FedDoctor. We do our best to find doctors all over the country that take a special interest in treating federal employees with OWCP claims. You can find them for an impairment rating under the 6th Edition of the AMA Guides, or switch to them as your primary care for the at-work injury.
We are actively searching the nation for more doctors that can help you. Please subscribe to our blog or like our Facebook or Follow our Twitter account. We update and post information that is useful to injured federal employees as well as announce new doctors on our site. Our goal is to have a FedDoctor member near every federal employee in the country. Let us know if you have heard of a doctor who helps federal employees or if you see one yourself.