IIB 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2465 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 30, 2011 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Workers’ Com3 pensation Modernization and Improvement Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS AND ADVANCED PRACTICE 

5 NURSES. 

6 (a) DEFINITION OF MEDICAL SERVICES.—Section 

7 8101(3) of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘law. Reimbursable’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘law (reimbursable’’; and 

10 (2) by inserting before the semicolon, the fol11 lowing: ‘‘, and medical services may include treat12 ment by a physician assistant or advanced practice 

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

14 of their practice as defined by State law, consistent 

15 with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of 

16 Labor)’’. 

17 (b) MEDICAL SERVICES AND OTHER BENEFITS.— 

18 Section 8103 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

19 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub20 section (c); and 

21 (2) by inserting after subsection (a), the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(b) Medical services furnished or prescribed pursu24 ant to subsection (a) may include treatment by a physician 

25 assistant or advanced practice nurse, such as a nurse 

26 practitioner, within the scope of their practice as defined 


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1 by State law, consistent with regulations prescribed by the 

2 Secretary of Labor.’’. 

3 (c) CERTIFICATION OF TRAUMATIC INJURY.—Section 

4 8121(6) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by in5 serting before the period, the following: ‘‘(except that in 

6 a case of a traumatic injury, a physician assistant or ad7 vanced practice nurse, such as a nurse practitioner, within 

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

9 also provide certification of such traumatic injury and re10 lated disability during the continuation of pay period cov11 ered by section 8118, in a manner consistent with regula12 tions prescribed by the Secretary of Labor)’’. 

13 SEC. 3. COVERING TERRORISM INJURIES. 

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

15 amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1)— 

16 (1) by inserting ‘‘or from an attack by a ter17 rorist or terrorist organization, either known or un18 known,’’ after ‘‘force or individual,’’; and 

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

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

21 United States’’. 

22 SEC. 4. DISFIGUREMENT. 

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


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘For’’ and inserting the fol2 lowing: ‘‘(A) Except as provided under subparagraph 

3 (B), for’’; and 

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

5 ‘‘(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), for an 

6 injury occurring during the 3-year period prior to 

7 the date of enactment of the Federal Workers’ Com8 pensation Modernization and Improvement Act for 

9 which the Secretary of Labor has not made a com10 pensation determination on disfigurement under sub11 paragraph (A), or for an injury occurring on or after 

12 the date of enactment of such Act resulting in a se13 rious disfigurement of the face, head, or neck, prop14 er and equitable compensation in proportion to the 

15 severity of the disfigurement, not to exceed $50,000, 

16 as determined by the Secretary, shall be awarded in 

17 addition to any other compensation payable under 

18 this schedule. The applicable maximum compensa19 tion for disfigurement provided under this subpara20 graph shall be adjusted annually on March 1 in ac21 cordance with the percentage amount determined by 

22 the cost of living adjustment in section 8146a.’’. 

23 SEC. 5. SOCIAL SECURITY EARNINGS INFORMATION. 

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

25 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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

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

3 any benefits under this subchapter, that a claimant for 

4 such benefits consent to the release by the Social Security 

5 Administration of the Social Security earnings informa6 tion of such claimant.’’. 

7 SEC. 6. CONTINUATION OF PAY IN A ZONE OF ARMED CON8 FLICT. 

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

10 amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Continu12 ation’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided under sub13 section (e)(2), continuation’’; 

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

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

16 or subsection (e),’’; 

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

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

19 (4) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub20 section (f); and 

21 (5) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol22 lowing: 

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

24 CONFLICT.— 


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

2 (a), the United States shall authorize the continu3 ation of pay of an employee as defined in section 

4 8101(1) of this title (other than those referred to in 

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

6 a period of wage loss due to traumatic injury in per7 formance of duty in a zone of armed conflict (as so 

8 determined by the Secretary of Labor under para9 graph (3)), as long as the employee files a claim for 

10 such wage loss benefit with his immediate superior 

11 not later than 45 days following termination of as12 signment to the zone of armed conflict or return to 

13 the United States, whichever occurs later. 

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

15 subsection (b), continuation of pay under this sub16 section shall be furnished for a period not to exceed 

17 135 days without any break in time or waiting pe18 riod, unless controverted under regulations pre19 scribed by the Secretary of Labor. 

20 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF ZONES OF ARMED

21 CONFLICT.—For purposes of this subsection, the 

22 Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Sec23 retary of State and the Secretary of Defense, shall 

24 determine whether a foreign country or other foreign 

25 geographic area outside of the United States (as 


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

2 Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 

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

4 on whether— 

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

6 States are involved in hostilities in the country 

7 or area; 

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

9 civil war, terrorism, or wartime conditions 

10 threatens physical harm or imminent danger to 

11 the health or well-being of United States civil12 ian employees in the country or area; 

13 ‘‘(C) the country or area has been des14 ignated a combat zone by the President under 

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

16 1986 (26 U.S.C. 112(c)); 

17 ‘‘(D) a contingency operation involving 

18 combat operations directly affects civilian em19 ployees in the country or area; or 

20 ‘‘(E) there exist other relevant conditions 

21 and factors.’’. 

22 SEC. 7. SUBROGATION OF CONTINUATION OF PAY. 

23 (a) SUBROGATION OF THE UNITED STATES.—Sec24 tion 8131 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 


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

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

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

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

5 (b) ADJUSTMENT AFTER RECOVERY FROM A THIRD

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

7 amended— 

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

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

10 place it appears; 

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

12 ‘‘on his behalf’’; and 

13 (3) by inserting ‘‘continuation of pay and’’ be14 fore ‘‘compensation’’ the third place it appears. 

15 SEC. 8. FUNERAL EXPENSES. 

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

17 amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘If’’ and in19 serting ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (b), if’’; 

20 (2) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub21 section (c); and 

22 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), for deaths oc25 curring on or after the date of enactment of the Federal 


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1 Workers’ Compensation Modernization and Improvement 

2 Act, if death results from an injury sustained in the per3 formance of duty, the United States shall pay, to the per4 sonal representative of the deceased or otherwise, funeral 

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

6 of the Secretary of Labor. The applicable maximum com7 pensation for burial expenses provided under this sub8 section shall be adjusted annually on March 1 in accord9 ance with the percentage amount determined by the cost 

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

11 SEC. 9. EMPLOYEES’ COMPENSATION FUND. 

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

13 amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (a)— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘except administrative ex16 penses’’ and inserting ‘‘including administrative 

17 expenses’’; and 

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

19 (2) in subsection (b)— 

20 (A) in the first sentence, by inserting be21 fore the period ‘‘and an estimate of a pro-rata 

22 share of the amount of funds necessary to ad23 minister this subchapter for the fiscal year be24 ginning in the next calendar year’’; and 


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1 (B) in the second sentence, by striking 

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

3 statement of costs and administrative expenses 

4 furnished pursuant to this subsection’’. 

5 SEC. 10. CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 

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

7 is amended by inserting before the semicolon ‘‘who suf8 fered an injury on or prior to March 3, 1979’’. 

9 SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

10 Except as otherwise provided, this Act and the 

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

12 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

13 SEC. 12. PAYGO COMPLIANCE. 

14 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

15 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

16 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

17 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

18 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

19 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, 


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1 provided that such statement has been submitted prior to 

2 the vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 29, 

2011. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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