Posts Tagged ‘nationwide’

Why is it hard to find a federal doctor? Part 1

Wednesday, September 12th, 2012

The federal workers compensation system is spread out through the entire nation and even serves civil servants over seas. While it does not cover the armed forces, it does include people who work on military installation around the globe as civilians.

The federal workers comp laws are governed by FECA, the Federal Employees Compensation Act, and is administered by the OWCP (Office of Workers Compensation Programs). The OWCP has a number of regional office across the country that divide the federal population. (Click here for a list of District Offices)

More than 2.5 million people are covered under FECA, which adjudicates all workers compensation injuries for federal employees. Filing a claim after a work injury is the start of a process that may last only a few short days or for the rest of your life. Hopefully, none of you are injured severely.

Unfortunately, the nature of work requires us to perform services and duties and in the course of performing such work, injuries, sometimes serious, will occur.

The federal workers compensation provides benefits to those injured on the job. Whether it is simply medical care, lost wage reimbursement, or payment for permanent damage to the employee, FECA is the exclusive remedy for employer liability.

We at FedDoctor.com are focused on helping injured feds find local physicians that can provide quality care and understand the extra work and requirements that the federal government asks of treating doctors.

Most private sector companies have to purchase workers compensation insurance in case an at work accident or exposure injures one of their employees. The Federal Government decided to self-insure. They created the laws and the administration under the Department of Labor to handle the cases and payments for their own claimants internally.

Hence, the OWCP was born.

However, the OWCP decided to use a very large human resource company called ACS (Affiliated Computer Services, Inc.) to handle the medical payouts to the claimants doctor and treatment facilities. They actually work hand-in-hand to process medical fees and payments when the OWCP has determined that the injury is indeed related to the claimant’s employment with the federal government.

To be Continued…

Understanding where the OWCP is

Monday, September 19th, 2011

The Office of Workers Compensation Programs (OWCP) is a branch under the Department of Labor (DOL). It specifically adjudicates and governs the laws under the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA). They deal with all the rules and regulations under the federal workers compensation system.

The OWCP has offices spread throughout the United States and they try to work your file at a nearby office. District Offices are located in Boston (District 1), Philadelphia (3), New York City (2), Washington, D.C. (25), Jacksonville, FL (6), Cleveland (9), Chicago (10), Kansas City (11), Dallas (16), Denver (12), San Francisco (13) and Seattle (14). Your OWCP claims numbers will start with a two digit number signifying the district office the claim was originated in. However anyone who has dealt with OWCP knows that all the mail is sent to London, KY.

The London, KY office is simply a mail room. There are no claims examiners there at all. All submissions are scanned into an electronic database and forwarded to the appropriate district office. Remember that people in all of these districts need medical care and are looking for qualified federal OWCP doctors who can help them get the care they need and benefits they deserve. That is why FedDoctor exists.

Tell your friends and coworkers not to fight OWCP alone. Visit today and get started on recovery.

FedDoctor helps federal workers compensation patients get medical care

Saturday, September 10th, 2011

When a federal employee gets hurt at work, they face many obstacles that they must overcome in order to receive the benefits that they are entitled to.

An injured federal employee must first file a claim and “prove” that the medical conditions resulted from the job. Once a claim is opened, many claimants continue to have to fight with the OWCP to prove their ongoing treatments are necessary and that medical benefits be provided to pay the medical personnel. If the injury results in lost time, the claimant must prove that it was truly the condition that caused the missed time and provide medical rationale to support it. Once the conditions stabilize, the claimant must file paperwork for a schedule award if permanent residuals result.

To make matters worse, doctors often don’t accept DOL or OWCP as a form of payment or simply do not understand how to complete the paperwork and provide adequate documentation to the claims examiner. Federal attorneys are equally difficult to find if the situation in not being properly adjudicated.

FedDoctor.com is here to help with the problem. Every time a federal employee needs medical care, we want to be the resource that helps them to find a physician that understands the federal workers compensation system and can provide all of the medical rationale and documentation to help ensure that the necessary evidence is available to the claimant or the claimant’s federal lawyer.

So start searching here at FedDoctor to see if we already have found someone near you to help you with your OWCP claim. We are always looking to find more doctors who understand and are willing to devote a part of their practice to working with federal employees. Stay tuned to watch the list of doctors grow and expand across the country. If we don’t have a doctor listed in your part of the country yet, leave us your information so that we can contact you back or add you to our email list and keep you up to date when we do find a physician near you!

Visit our Facebook page and Like us! Follow us on Twitter. Subscribe to blogs, but whatever you do, help us to spread the word across the nation that help is on the way. And best of all, it is absolutely free to use!

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