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As a result of the unique occupational disease injuries (latent cancers, heart disease, lung disease) firefighters may develop, and the complex Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) claims development involved in their cases, the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP) is making changes to streamline the processing of federal firefighter claims. Listed below are some of the steps the OWCP is taking to achieve this goal:
Process Changes
In April 2023, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) opened the enrollment portal for the National Firefighter Registry (NFR) for Cancer, the largest effort ever undertaken to understand and reduce risk of cancer among U.S. firefighters. OWCP now informs all firefighters who file injury and illness claims under FECA about their ability to register with the National Firefighter Registry.
Policy Changes
On April 19, 2022, OWCP issued FECA Bulletin No. 22-07, “Special Case Handling in Certain Firefighter FECA Claims Processing and Adjudication.” This bulletin implemented policy changes to ease the evidentiary requirements needed to support claims filed by federal employees engaged in fire protection and suppression activities for certain cancers, heart conditions and lung conditions.
On Dec. 23, 2022, President Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2023 (NDAA) into law. Section 5305 of the NDAA, Fairness for Federal Firefighters, amended the FECA and established that certain illnesses and diseases are to be deemed to be proximately caused by employment in federal fire protection activities. While the new statutory provision mostly mimics Bulletin 22-07, minor updates were needed to align the list of conditions that are deemed to be proximately caused by the employment of federal firefighters with the conditions identified in the NDAA. Accordingly, on March 20, 2023, OWCP issued FECA bulletin No. 23-05 to align FECA policy with the provisions of the NDAA. You can find an OWCP Fact Sheet on FECA Bulletin No. 23-05 here.
Specifically, claims are now deemed high-risk and qualify for expedited processing if:
- The employee was diagnosed with:
- One of the following cancers: esophageal, colorectal, prostate, testicular, kidney, bladder, brain, lung, thyroid, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, leukemia, mesothelioma, or melanoma; or
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or a sudden cardiac event or stroke; and
- The employee was engaged in fire protection activities for at least five years; and
- The employee was diagnosed with a condition noted above within ten years of the date of last exposure to federal firefighting activities. An exception exists for sudden cardiac events or strokes which must occur while, or not later than 24 hours after, engaging in fire protection or suppression activities.
If the claim meets these high-risk criteria, the employee does not need to submit additional evidence of specific exposures or medical evidence addressing causal relationship. If the claim does not meet the high-risk criteria, it will be adjudicated under established FECA case processing procedures.
The OWCP is committed to providing a streamlined process for firefighters whose employment may place them at a higher risk for certain illnesses. With these policy changes, and with assignment of all firefighter claims to our Special Claims Unit, this should continue to make the claims process for Federal firefighters easier to navigate.
If you have questions related to your claim, please contact us at FirefighterClaimsInfo@dol.gov to reach one of our Special Claims Unit Supervisors, or you can contact Kim Adams, (Adams.Kim@dol.gov), Office Director for the Special Claims Units.
Finally, below you will find information with links on how to file a FECA claim. Please note that as an injured worker, you do not need approval from your employing agency to initiate your claim.
How to file a claim
To file a workers' compensation claim, you must first register for an Employees’ Compensation Operations and Management Portal (ECOMP) account at www.ecomp.dol.gov. ECOMP is a free web-based application. You do not need approval from your supervisor or anyone else at your agency to initiate your FECA workers' compensation claim. Once you register for an ECOMP account, you will be able to file either Form CA-1 ‘Notice of Traumatic Injury’ (single event trauma) or Form CA-2 ‘Notice of Occupational Disease’ (repeated exposure).
- A video tutorial on registering for an ECOMP account is available to guide you through the registration process.
- CA-1 Notice of Traumatic Injury: a traumatic injury is defined as a wound or other condition of the body caused by external force, including stress or strain. The injury must be identifiable as to time and place of occurrence and member or function of the body affected, and it must be caused by a specific work event or incident or series of work events or incidents during a single day or work shift. To file a claim for traumatic injury, you should complete a CA-1, Notice of Traumatic Injury via ECOMP.
- A video tutorial on filing Form CA-1 'Notice of Traumatic Injury' is available to guide you through the claim filing process.
- A video tutorial on filing Form CA-1 'Notice of Traumatic Injury' is available to guide you through the claim filing process.
- CA-2 Notice of Occupational Disease: An occupational disease is defined as a condition which is produced by continued or repeated exposure to elements of the work environment over a period longer than one work day or shift. To file a claim for occupational disease, you should file a CA-2, Notice of Occupational Disease via ECOMP.
- A video tutorial on filing Form CA-2 'Notice of Occupational Disease' is available to guide you through the claim filing process.
- A video tutorial on filing Form CA-2 'Notice of Occupational Disease' is available to guide you through the claim filing process.