Washington — Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle met this month to talk about what’s making it hard for some injured workers in the energy sector to receive timely, quality health care under federal workers’ compensation programs.
“Many workers’ compensation systems have slowly been eroded,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), ranking member of the House Workforce Protections Subcommittee, said during a March 18 hearing. “Over the past several decades, states have reduced benefits, narrowed eligibility and added administrative hurdles. Too often, injured workers receive less support precisely when they need it most.”
Omar continued: “The federal workers’ compensation programs should not repeat those mistakes. The workers covered by these programs, from federal employees to coal miners, carry out work that the public relies on, often in demanding and dangerous conditions. The system that protects them after an injury should reflect that reality.”
Patrick Howe, executive vice president of health care provider Nuclear Care Partners, testified during the hearing that his organization is seeing “a lot of respiratory illnesses, specifically silicosis and asbestosis – two forms of pneumoconiosis,” among workers, including miners. “We’re also seeing a significant increase in chronic kidney disease related to heavy metal exposure like cadmium, lead and mercury.”
That’s in addition to the other issues, Howe said, including neurological defects and 22 forms of cancer associated with exposure to toxic materials and radiation.
“Delaying care for [workers], even by a week, a month or two months, to get a physician’s appointment would delay the entire approval process,” Howe said. “Some of these people don’t have the gift of time.”
In the meantime, legislation has been introduced that could help.
Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA), who chairs the subcommittee, mentioned in his opening statement two bipartisan bills that would allow workers to seek care from nurse practitioners and physician assistants in an effort to reduce wait times. The Health Care for Energy Workers Act (H.R. 4122) had, at press time, been referred to the Judiciary Committee, in addition to the Education and Workforce Committee. The Improving Access to Workers’ Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act of 2025 (H.R. 3170) was approved by the Education and Workforce Committee and sent to the full House.
Addressing the issues
Omar referenced a March 4 letter that she and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) sent to Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer asking whether DOL is enforcing the Black Lung Self-Insurance Rule for coal mine operators. That rule was published in December 2024 and went into effect the next month.
“We have seen hundreds of millions of dollars in black lung liabilities shifted onto taxpayers after self-insured operators who had posted too little collateral went bankrupt,” Omar said. “Ranking Member Scott and I have asked the Labor Department to come clean with the public about what they’re doing to protect taxpayers, but the department has so far failed to give us straight answers.”
Independent contractors and private equity
During the hearing, Scott asked Christopher Godfrey, director of research for the Workers’ Injury Law and Advocacy Group, if a worker misclassified as an independent contractor instead of an employee would get workers’ comp benefits.
“As an independent contractor, you would not qualify for workers’ compensation unless you paid for insurance on your own,” Godfrey said.
Scott also asked about the “relationship between private equity investment and the quality of care.”
Godfrey replied: “Overall, private equity involvement in managed care and workers’ compensation has been problematic for injured and ill workers” and added that “cost shifting” is among the issues.
AI and workers’ comp
The hearing also explored the lack of modernization of the Federal Employees Compensation Act since 1974 and the use of artificial intelligence in workers’ comp.
“The use of AI has been very powerful in the claims management arena, mainly in assisting the claims examiner in helping promptly identify trends and upcoming milestones,” Sedgwick Government Solutions President Robert Johnson testified in response to a question from Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI). “We believe with the use of artificial intelligence, there should always be a human on both ends of the transaction – a human that evaluates the case and manages the case using the AI tools to supplement their abilities, and a human that reviews the outcome.
“We think that oversight and constant monitoring of AI is of the utmost importance. We also think the data should remain in federally compliant systems.”
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Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication