I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2465 

To amend the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 8, 2011 

Mr. KLINE (for himself, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. WALBERG, 

and Ms. WOOLSEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act. 

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 ‘‘Federal Workers’ Com5 pensation Modernization and Improvement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS AND ADVANCED PRACTICE 

7 NURSES. 

8 (a) DEFINITION OF MEDICAL SERVICES.—Section 

9 8101(3) of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘law. Reimbursable’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘law (reimbursable’’; and 


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1 (2) by inserting before the semicolon, the fol2 lowing: ‘‘, and medical services may include treat3 ment by a physician assistant or advanced practice 

4 nurse, such as a nurse practitioner, within the scope 

5 of their practice as defined by State law, consistent 

6 with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of 

7 Labor)’’. 

8 (b) MEDICAL SERVICES AND OTHER BENEFITS.— 

9 Section 8103(a) of title 5, United States Code, is amend10 ed— 

11 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub12 section (c); and 

13 (2) by inserting after subsection (a), the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(b) Medical services furnished or prescribed pursu16 ant to subsection (a) may include treatment by a physician 

17 assistant or advanced practice nurse, such as a nurse 

18 practitioner, within the scope of their practice as defined 

19 by State law, consistent with regulations prescribed by the 

20 Secretary of Labor.’’. 

21 (c) CERTIFICATION OF TRAUMATIC INJURY.—Section 

22 8121(6) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by in23 serting before the period, the following: ‘‘(except that in 

24 a case of a traumatic injury, a physician assistant or ad25 vanced practice nurse, such as a nurse practitioner, within 


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1 the scope of their practice as defined by State law, may 

2 also provide certification of such traumatic injury and re3 lated disability during the continuation of pay period cov4 ered by section 8118, in a manner consistent with regula5 tions prescribed by the Secretary of Labor)’’. 

6 SEC. 3. COVERING TERRORISM INJURIES. 

7 Section 8102(b) of title 5, United States Code, is 

8 amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1)— 

9 (1) by inserting ‘‘or from an attack by a ter10 rorist or terrorist organization, either known or un11 known,’’ after ‘‘force or individual,’’ and 

12 (2) by striking ‘‘outside’’ and all that follows 

13 through ‘‘1979)’’ and inserting ‘‘outside of the 

14 United States’’. 

15 SEC. 4. DISFIGUREMENT. 

16 Section 8107(c)(21) of title 5, United States Code— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘For’’ and inserting the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(A) Except as provided under subpara20 graph (B), for’’; and 

21 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), 

23 for an injury occurring during the 3-year period 

24 prior to the date of enactment of the Federal 

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1 provement Act for which the Secretary has not 

2 made a compensation determination on dis3 figurement under subparagraph (A), or for an 

4 injury occurring on or after the date of enact5 ment of such Act resulting in a serious dis6 figurement of the face, head, or neck, proper 

7 and equitable compensation in proportion to the 

8 severity of the disfigurement, not to exceed 

9 $50,000, as determined by the Secretary, shall 

10 be awarded in addition to any other compensa11 tion payable under this schedule. The applicable 

12 maximum compensation for disfigurement pro13 vided under this subparagraph shall be adjusted 

14 annually on March 1 in accordance with the 

15 percentage amount determined by the cost of 

16 living adjustment in section 8146a.’’. 

17 SEC. 5. SOCIAL SECURITY EARNINGS INFORMATION. 

18 Section 8116 of title 5, United States Code, is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 

21 Secretary of Labor may require, as a condition of receiving 

22 any benefits under this subchapter, that a claimant for 

23 such benefits consent to the release by the Social Security 

24 Administration of the Social Security earnings informa25 tion of such claimant.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. CONTINUATION OF PAY IN A ZONE OF ARMED CON2 FLICT. 

3 Section 8118 of title 5, United States Code, is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Continu6 ation’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided under sub7 section (e)(2), continuation’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘subsections 

9 (a) and (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (a) and (b) 

10 or subsection (e),’’; 

11 (3) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘subsection 

12 (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a) or (e)’’; 

13 (4) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub14 section (f); and 

15 (5) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(e) CONTINUATION OF PAY IN A ZONE OF ARMED

18 CONFLICT.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding subsection 

20 (a), the United States shall authorize the continu21 ation of pay of an employee as defined in section 

22 8101(1) of this title (other than those referred to in 

23 subparagraph (B) or (E)), who has filed a claim for 

24 a period of wage loss due to traumatic injury in per25 formance of duty in a zone of armed conflict (as so 

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1 graph (3)), as long as the employee files a claim for 

2 such wage loss benefit with his immediate superior 

3 not later than 45 days following termination of as4 signment to the zone of armed conflict or return to 

5 the United States, whichever occurs later. 

6 ‘‘(2) CONTINUATION OF PAY.—Notwithstanding 

7 subsection (b), continuation of pay under this sub8 section shall be furnished for a period not to exceed 

9 135 days without any break in time or waiting pe10 riod, unless controverted under regulations pre11 scribed by the Secretary of Labor. 

12 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF ZONES OF ARMED

13 CONFLICT.—For purposes of this subsection, the 

14 Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Sec15 retary of State and the Secretary of Defense, shall 

16 determine whether a foreign country or other foreign 

17 geographic area outside of the United States (as 

18 that term is defined in section 202(7) of the State 

19 Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 

20 U.S.C. 4302(7)) is a zone of armed conflict based on 

21 whether— 

22 ‘‘(A) the Armed Forces of the United 

23 States are involved in hostilities in the country 

24 or area; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the incidence of civil insurrection, 

2 civil war, terrorism, or wartime conditions 

3 threatens physical harm or imminent danger to 

4 the health or well-being of United States civil5 ian employees in the country or area; 

6 ‘‘(C) the country or area has been des7 ignated a combat zone by the President under 

8 section 112(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

9 1986 (26 U.S.C. 112(c)); 

10 ‘‘(D) a contingency operation involving 

11 combat operations directly affects civilian em12 ployees in the country or area; or 

13 ‘‘(E) there exist other relevant conditions 

14 and factors.’’. 

15 SEC. 7. SUBROGATION OF CONTINUATION OF PAY. 

16 (a) SUBROGATION OF THE UNITED STATES.—Sec17 tion 8131 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘continuation 

19 of pay or’’ before ‘‘compensation’’; and 

20 (2) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘continuation 

21 of pay or’’ before ‘‘compensation already paid’’. 

22 (b) ADJUSTMENT AFTER RECOVERY FROM A THIRD

23 PERSON.—Section 8132 of title 5, United States Code, is 

24 amended— 


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1 (1) by inserting ‘‘continuation of pay or’’ before 

2 ‘‘compensation’’ the first, second, fourth, and fifth 

3 place it appears; 

4 (2) by striking ‘‘in his behalf’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘on his behalf’’; and 

6 (3) by inserting ‘‘continuation of pay and’’ be7 fore ‘‘compensation’’ the third place it appears. 

8 SEC. 8. FUNERAL EXPENSES. 

9 Section 8134 of title 5, United States Code, is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘If’’ and in12 serting ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (b), if’’; 

13 (2) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub14 section (c); and 

15 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), for deaths oc18 curring on or after the date of enactment of the Federal 

19 Workers’ Compensation Modernization and Improvement 

20 Act, if death results from an injury sustained in the per21 formance of duty, the United States shall pay, to the per22 sonal representative of the deceased or otherwise, funeral 

23 and burial expenses not to exceed $6,000, in the discretion 

24 of the Secretary of Labor. The applicable maximum com25 pensation for burial expenses provided under this subVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:01 Jul 09, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2465.IH H2465

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1 section shall be adjusted annually on March 1 in accord2 ance with the percentage amount determined by the cost 

3 of living adjustment in section 8146a.’’. 

4 SEC. 9. EMPLOYEES’ COMPENSATION FUND. 

5 Section 8147 of title 5, United States Code, is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘except administrative ex9 penses’’ and inserting ‘‘including administrative 

10 expenses’’; and 

11 (B) by striking the last 2 sentences; and 

12 (2) in subsection (b)— 

13 (A) in the first sentence, by inserting be14 fore the period ‘‘and an estimate of a pro-rata 

15 share of the amount of funds necessary to ad16 minister this subchapter for the fiscal year be17 ginning in the next calendar year’’; and 

18 (B) in the second sentence, by striking 

19 ‘‘costs’’ and inserting ‘‘amount set out in the 

20 statement of costs and administrative expenses 

21 furnished pursuant to this subsection’’. 

22 SEC. 10. CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 

23 Section 8101(1)(D) of title 5, United States Code, 

24 is amended by inserting before the semicolon ‘‘who suf25 fered an injury on or prior to March 3, 1979’’. 


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1 SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 Except as otherwise provided, this Act and the 

3 amendments made by this Act, shall take effect 60 days 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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