October 13, 2004

Claims bill reaches Bush's desk

Effort to shift weapons worker payments to Labor Dept.
close to fruition.

By MATTHEW LeBLANC
mleblanc@thehawkeye.com

An overhauled federal workers' compensation program
for ailing former nuclear weapons workers should
provide longanticipated payments for thousands who
contracted illnesses while working at bombmaking
factories, supporters say.

A panel of House and Senate leaders agreed Friday to
revamp the 4yearold Energy Employees Occupational
Illness Compensation Program. Congress approved
changes Saturday that include moving claims filed
under the program to the Department of Labor.
President Bush is expected to sign the bill later this
month.

The move caps a monthslong effort to introduce
changes in the law, which has paid few of more than
23,000 former workers who have filed claims. Labor
officials, who congressional investigators say are
better suited to run the program, are expected to
begin running the program by next year.

The Department of Energy, which previously ran the
program, was the subject of separate investigations by
the Senate Finance Committee and the Government
Accounting Office in the past year. Three Senate
Energy Committee hearings also were scheduled to
discuss the program's shortcomings. Officials there
will no longer play a role in evaluating claims and
securing payments.

"This thing's a winner," said Richard Miller, who has
been an advocate for change in EEOICP. Government
Accountability Project, a Washington, D.C.based
watchdog group where Miller is senior policy analyst,
issued a press release praising the legislation last
week.

"Since the law was enacted in October 2000," the
release said, "DOE has expended $95 million on
administrative costs, but has rendered determinations
by physicians' panels on fewer than 8 percent of its
claims by October 2004 and has only secured payments
for a mere 31 workers as of August 2004."

A retooled EEOICP includes provisions on the amount of
compensation for which each worker is entitled. It
also includes a governmentappointed ombudsman charged
with providing information about the program to
claimants.

That's good news for former Iowa Army Ammunition Plant
employees, who have complained that the claims process
is long and confusing.

Most notable among the changes is the way in which
determinations are made on claims. Labor officials
not Energy personnel will now oversee and make
decisions on claims filed under EEOICP. Also, the
federal government will dole out compensation
payments. Previously, claimants were forced to file
state workers' compensation claims in their home
state.

"The former workers at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant
have suffered long enough," said Sen. Charles
Grassley, who helped push for the changes with
Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning.

The new $1.16 billion program which includes another
government compensation program will favor claimants
under Labor, which has experience running workers'
compensation programs, Miller said. Under the previous
program, money had to be allocated to Congress to dole
out the payments. Under the new program, the money for
payments is guaranteed.

"It's actually better because it's easier to
implement," Miller said. "I think, overall, people
will fare better."

IAAP workers in Middletown built, testfired and
disassembled components of nuclear weapons during the
Cold War, and the new program will affect them and
workers in Colorado, Idaho, Kentucky, New Mexico,
Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington.

Terrie Barrie, a workers' advocate in Colorado, sent
an email to news media outlets that said, simply, "WE
DID IT!!!"

The changes will not be immediate, however. Bush is
expected to sign the bill, despite his
administration's stated opposition. After that,
thousands of files must be moved from Energy offices
to Labor officials. Included in the bill is a clause
that gives Energy 210 days to make the transition.

A Labor Department spokeswoman said Tuesday she would
examine plans for her agency to take over the
compensation program. Workers who have already filed
claims under the program are not expected to be
affected by the changes and will be considered for
compensation under Labor guidelines.

The new program also determines the amount of
compensation based on the extent of the injury and
other factors, according to a complicated formula
devised by lawmakers. The most any worker can receive
is $250,000.

Survivors of dead former workers are still eligible
for payments, also. That amount is capped at $175,000.


About $850 million has been set aside for compensation
payments.

In a statement Friday, Energy Secretary Spencer
Abraham praised his agency's efforts under EEOICP, but
does not specifically address the revamped program.

"From day one, the Bush administration has been
committed to taking care of former Department of
Energy contract workers who have become ill from their
dedicated service to our national defense complex,"
Abraham said. "We have worked diligently to meet the
criteria Congress set to address workers' applications
for compensation and now, together, the departments of
Energy and Labor remain committed to meeting that
important goal."