II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1149 

To amend the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act to cover services provided to injured Federal workers by physician assistants and nurse practitioners, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 26, 2005 

Mr. ISAKSON (for himself and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL

To amend the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act to cover 

services provided to injured Federal workers by physician 

assistants and nurse practitioners, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Access to 

5 Workers’ Compensation for Injured Federal Workers 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) Medical services and supplies provided by 

2 physician assistants (PAs) and nurse practitioners 

3 (NPs) are not included in the definition of ‘‘medical, 

4 surgical, and hospital services and supplies,’’ in the 

5 Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (5 U.S.C. 

6 8101 et seq.), PAs and NPs are not included in the 

7 definition of ‘‘physician’’ in such Act, and claims 

8 signed by PAs and NPs have been denied by the Of9 fice of Workers’ Compensation Programs of the De10 partment of Labor. 

11 (2) In some rural areas where PAs and NPs 

12 are the only full-time providers of care, injured Fed13 eral workers may have to travel more than 100 miles 

14 to receive care that is reimbursable. 

15 (3) In some cases, Federal workers have been 

16 advised to use hospital emergency rooms for non17 emergency care, rather than receiving care after18 hours at local clinics where PAs or NPs are the only 

19 health care professionals on-site. 

20 (4) PAs and NPs are legally regulated in all 

21 fifty States, the District of Columbia, and Guam. 

22 Forty-eight States, the District of Columbia, and 

23 Guam authorize physicians to delegate prescriptive 

24 privileges to the PAs they supervise, and forty-nine 

25 States, the District of Columbia, and Guam author-
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1 ize NPs to prescribe medications under their own 

2 signature. 

3 (5) PAs and NPs work in virtually every area 

4 of medicine and surgery and are covered providers 

5 within Medicare, Tri-Care, and most private insur6 ance plans. PAs and NPs are also employed by the 

7 Federal Government to provide medical care, includ8 ing by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the De9 partment of Defense, and the Public and Indian 

10 Health Services. 

11 (6) Amending the Federal Employees’ Com12 pensation Act to recognize PAs and NPs as covered 

13 providers will bring this Act in line with the over14 whelming majority of State workers’ compensation 

15 programs, which recognize PAs and NPs as covered 

16 providers. 

17 (7) The exclusion of PAs and NPs from the 

18 category of covered providers under the Federal Em19 ployees’ Compensation Act limits patients’ access to 

20 medical care, services, and supplies, disrupts con21 tinuity of care, and creates unnecessary costs for the 

22 Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs. 
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1 SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS AND NURSE 

2 PRACTITIONERS IN FEDERAL EMPLOYEES’ 

3 COMPENSATION ACT. 

4 (a) INCLUSION.—Section 8101 of title 5, United 

5 States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting after ‘‘chiro7 practors,’’ the following: ‘‘physician assistants, nurse 

8 practitioners,’’; and 

9 (2) in paragraph (3), by inserting after ‘‘chiro10 practors,’’ the following: ‘‘physician assistants, nurse 

11 practitioners,’’. 

12 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

13 this section shall apply beginning on the first day of the 

14 first Federal fiscal year quarter that begins on or after 

15 the date of enactment of this Act.

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