House Acts to Crack Down on Fraud in Federal Workers Comp Program

The House today unanimously passed H.R. 8823, Putting Patients First by Strengthening Provider Accountability in FECA Act, bipartisan legislation to strengthen the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) and crack down on fraud in the program.

Chairman Tim Walberg said:"Federal workers who are navigating an injury deserve timely, honest, and compassionate care-not to become the target of fraud. Unfortunately, certain medical providers have treated FECA like a personal ATM, submitting fraudulent claims and abusing the system at the expense of both taxpayers and the very people they were entrusted to help. This legislation puts an end to that abuse and reaffirms that these funds are meant to serve injured workers-not line the pockets of fraudsters."

"As Chairman of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, I'm committed to protecting workers' benefits from fraudsters,"said Congressman Mackenzie. "Every dollar that goes to a fraudulent provider is one less dollar going towards providing high-quality care to an injured federal worker. Federal workers deserve commonsense protections in the law that safeguard their benefits against fraudsters. That's why my bill, H.R. 8823, gives the Department of Labor permanent authority to suspend payments to medical care providers who are convicted of fraudulent activity."

H.R. 8823, Putting Patients First by Strengthening Provider Accountability in FECA Act, authored by Rep. Mackenzie:

• Stops payments to medical providers convicted of fraud involving FECA or other government health care programs.
• Prevents taxpayer dollars from going to fraud.
• Ensures FECA funds go toward workers who need them-not scammers.