2023 FECA Bulletins which have previously been issued by the DFEC but have since expired or been superseded by another Bulletin, Circular or inclusion in the FECA Procedure Manual.

Fiscal Year 2023

Bulletin

Subject

FECA Bulletin No. 23-04

Compensation Pay: Compensation Rate Changes for 2023

FECA Bulletin No. 23-05

Special Case Handling in Certain Firefighter FECA Claims Processing and Adjudication

FECA Bulletin No. 23-06

Compensation Pay - Consumer Price Index (CPI) Cost-of-Living Adjustments

 

Attention: This bulletin has been superseded and is inactive.

FECA BULLETIN NO. 23-04                                                                                                           Issue Date: January 18, 2023

Subject: Compensation Pay: Compensation Rate Changes for 2023

Background: On December 23, 2022, the President signed an Executive Order increasing the General Schedule basic pay rates for 2023.

Reference: 2023 General Schedule (Base).

Purpose: To inform the appropriate personnel of the minimum/maximum rates of compensation under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act for affected cases on the periodic disability and death payrolls.

The maximum compensation rate payable is based on the scheduled salary of a GS-15, Step 10 of $152,771 per annum. The basis for the minimum compensation rate of $23,612 is the salary of a GS-2, Step 1. The actual rates are outlined below.

Effective January 1, 2023

Type

Minimum

Maximum

Weekly

$340.56

$2,194.86

Daily (5-day week)

$68.11

$438.97

 

Effective January 1, 2023

Type

Minimum

Maximum

28-Day Cycle

$1,362.24

$8,779.45

 

Effective January 1, 2023

Type

Minimum

Maximum

Monthly (death benefits)

$1,967.67

$9,511.07

Action: The integrated Federal Employees’ Compensation System (iFECS) will be updated with the rate changes for the periodic disability and death payrolls.

Applicability: Appropriate National and District Office personnel.

Disposition:This bulletin is to be retained in Part 5, Benefit Payments, Federal (FECA) Procedure Manual.

 

Antonio Rios
Director for
Division of Federal Employees', Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation

Distribution: All FECA Staff

Back to Top of FECA Bulletin No. 23-04

Back to Table of Contents

 

Attention: This bulletin has been superseded and is inactive.

FECA BULLETIN NO. 23-05                                                                                                           Issue Date: March 20, 2023

Subject: Special Case Handling in Certain Firefighter FECA Claims Processing and Adjudication

Background: The Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) covers injury in the performance of duty; injury includes a disease proximately caused by federal employment. The U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) Division of Federal Employees', Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation (DFELHWC) administers FECA. FECA provides to an employee injured while in the performance of duty the services, appliances, and supplies prescribed or recommended by a qualified physician, which OWCP considers "likely to cure, give relief, reduce the degree or the period of disability, or aid in lessening the amount of the monthly compensation." See 5 U.S.C. 8103. The FECA pays compensation for disability or death of an employee resulting from injury in the performance of duty.

On April 10, 2022, OWCP issued FECA Bulletin 22-07 which provided that as the result of the specific exposures that routinely occur in the course of their employment, Federal firefighters are at increased risk of certain types of cancers, heart disease and lung disease. This Bulletin indicated that when filing claims for these certain medical conditions, there is an implicit recognition of a higher likelihood of illness related to such federal employment. It provided claims staff with streamlined processing instructions for handling these occupational disease claims filed by Federal firefighters.

On December 23, 2022, the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act of 2023 (NDAA), Pub. L. No. 117-263, was signed into law. Section 5305 of the NDAA, Fairness for Federal Firefighters, amended the FECA by adding section 8143b to Title 5 of the U.S. Code. Section 8143b 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 are 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 Section 8143b.

Further, based on the language of the NDAA, OWCP is further streamlining the medical review required in such cases, obviating the need for review by a District Medical Advisor (DMA).

Purpose: To provide updated instructions to claims staff on the handling of certain occupational disease claims filed by Federal firefighters.

Action: Firefighter FECA claims will be fully developed to establish the five basic elements set forth in 20 CFR 10.115, in accordance with the special handling procedures addressed in items 1-5 below.

  • The claim was filed within the time limits set by the FECA;
  • The injured individual was an employee within the meaning of the FECA;
  • The employee provided factual evidence confirming that the exposure occurred and provided the medical evidence to support the diagnosis;
  • The employee was in the performance of duty when the exposure occurred; and
  • The diagnosis was found by a physician to be aggravated, accelerated, precipitated, or directly caused by work-related activities/exposure.

1. Claim Intake

a. A special indicator of FHR (Firefighter High Risk) has been implemented within the Employees Compensation and Management Portal (ECOMP) for Federal Firefighters who file claims under the FECA for conditions outlined in section 2(a) below.

b. Federal Firefighter claims will be processed by the Special Claims Unit to help ensure consistency in adjudication. See FECA PM 1-0200. After adjudication, these cases may be reassigned to a non-specialized claims examiner.

2. Medical Review

a. The claims examiner should review the evidence submitted to determine if any of the following qualifying medical conditions are diagnosed by a valid physician:

1. Esophageal Cancer
2. Colorectal Cancer
3. Prostate Cancer
4. Testicular Cancer
5. Multiple Myeloma
6. Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
7. Leukemia
8. Kidney Cancer
9. Bladder Cancer
10. Brain Cancer
11. Lung Cancer
12. Mesothelioma
13. Melanoma
14. Thyroid Cancer
15. A sudden cardiac event or stroke while, or not later than 24 hours after, engaging in the prevention, control, or extinguishment of fires or response to emergency situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk, including the prevention, control, suppression, or management of wildland fires
16. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Pursuant to section 8143b(b)(3), OWCP will consider making additions to the list of conditions as supported by the best available scientific evidence. If it is determined that the weight of evidence warrants adding an illness or disease, any additions will be made through the rule-making process; any such rule will clearly identify that scientific evidence.

b. If no medical documentation present reflects a diagnosis by a valid physician of one or more of the specified conditions, such documentation should be requested by the claims examiner. The date of initial diagnosis of each qualifying condition should also be requested.

c. If, after appropriate development, no medical evidence has been submitted from a valid physician establishing the diagnosis of any medical condition, the claim should be denied on that basis.

d. If, after appropriate development, medical evidence from a valid physician establishes a diagnosis not listed in subpart (a) above, the claims examiner should proceed with adjudication in accordance with established FECA case processing procedures. The claim will not be eligible for streamlined adjudication as outlined in item (4) below.

e. If, after any necessary development, a diagnosis in subpart (a) from a valid physician is present, the claims examiner should proceed with the analysis addressed in item (4) below.

3. Factual Review

a. Concurrently with the medical review, the claims examiner should review the factual evidence received and determine the nature and extent of the claimant’s employment history as it relates to performing fire protection activities. Employees engaged in fire protection activities are firefighters, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, rescue workers, ambulance personnel, or hazardous material workers, who (1) are trained in fire suppression; (2) have the legal authority and responsibility to engage in fire suppression; (3) are engaged in the prevention, control, or extinguishment of fires or response to emergency situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk; and (4) perform such activities as primary responsibilities of their jobs.

b. The claims examiner should also ascertain the number of years of Federal employment in which the employee was actively engaged in fire protection activities.

c. If the factual evidence necessary for subparts (a) and (b) is not present with the submission of the claim, development should be undertaken and requested from both the employee and the employing agency. A position description should also be requested.

4. Adjudication/Disposition:

a. The claims examiner should review and document the following information based on the evidence submitted with the claim and following any appropriate development:

1. Years of Federal employment engaged in fire protection activities.
2. Medical Diagnoses
3. Latency Period, defined as the number of years between the employee’s last date of engagement in Federal fire protection activities and the date of initial diagnoses of any qualifying medical conditions list in item 2(a) above.

b. In order for the qualifying medical condition(s) to be deemed proximately caused by employment and thereby streamline processing of the claim, the claim must meet all three of the following conditions:

1. The employee must have at least five years of Federal employment in which they were engaged in fire protection activities, as defined in section 3(a) above. The five-year period does not need to be consecutive; any Federal employment that meets the definition can be included in the claims examiner’s assessment. For example, if an employee was first engaged in fire protection activities in January of 2008, stopped working in fire protection activities in December 2009, and returned to their fire protection activities from January 2013 through their retirement in November 2017, their total engagement is between six-years-and-nine-months and six-years-and-eleven-months, depending on the specific dates involved.

2. The employee must have been diagnosed, by a physician, with a qualifying medical condition noted in item 2(a) above.

3. The above diagnosis must have occurred within ten years of the date of the last active date of employment in Federal firefighting activities. The only exception to this condition is with respect to sudden cardiac events or strokes as defined in item 2(a)(15) above. For such cases to meet the criteria for streamlined adjudication, the cardiac event or stroke must occur while, or not later than 24 hours after, engaging in the prevention, control, or extinguishment of fires or response to emergency situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk, including the prevention, control, suppression, or management of fires

c. If the case does not meet all three of the criteria in 4(b), it does not mean it should automatically be denied. Instead, the claims examiner should develop the claim in accordance with established FECA case processing procedures.

d. If the case meets all three of the criteria in 4(b), further evidence of causal relationship is not required. The condition(s) are deemed proximately caused by Federal firefighter employment and the claim may be acceptedi.

5. Death Benefits. Claims for Federal Firefighter death benefits are to be adjudicated in a manner similar to Federal Firefighter disability claims.

a. The claimant has the burden of establishing the essential elements of the claim, which includes the existence of a causal relationship between an employee’s death and a qualifying medical condition in item 2(a) above. When a qualifying medical condition has been established in accordance with item 2(a), the claimant must then establish that the qualifying medical condition hastened or caused the death of the employee.

b. The qualifying medical condition as listed in action item 2(a) above need not be the sole cause of death, and as such the fact that the employee may have had other non-work related conditions does not preclude a survivor’s entitlement to benefits.

Disposition: This Bulletin is to be retained until it has been incorporated into the DFELHWC Procedure Manual.

 

ANTONIO RIOS
Director for
Division of Federal Employees', Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation

Distribution: All DFELHWC Staff

---

i The claims examiner is no longer required to refer the case to the DMA for review prior to acceptance as indicated in Bulletin 22-07.

Back to Top of FECA Bulletin No. 23-05

Back to Table of Contents

 

Attention: This circular has been superseded and is inactive.

FECA BULLETIN NO. 23-06                                                                                                                                         March 23, 2023

Subject: Compensation Pay - Consumer Price Index (CPI) Cost-of-Living Adjustments

Purpose: To furnish information on the CPI adjustment process for March 1, 2023.

The cost-of-living adjustments granted to a compensation recipient under the FECA are based on the “Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers” (CPI-W) figures published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The annual cost of living increase is calculated by comparing the base month from the prior year to the base month of the current year, with the percentage of increase adjusted to the nearest one-tenth of 1 percent. 5 U.S.C. §8146(a) establishes the base month for the FECA CPI as December.

December 2021 had a CPI-W level of 273.925 and the December 2022 level was reported by BLS as 291.051. This means that the new CPI increase, adjusted to the nearest one-tenth of 1 percent, is 6.3 percent. The increase is effective March 1, 2023, and is applicable where disability or death occurred before March 1, 2022. In addition, the new base month for calculating the future CPI is December 2022.

The maximum compensation rates1, which must not be exceeded, are as follows:

$9,548.19 per month
$8,813.72 each four weeks
$2,203.43 per week
$440.69 per day (for a 5 day week)

Applicability: Appropriate FECA Program personnel.

Reference: FECA Consumer Price Index (CPI) Amendment, dated January 6, 1981; Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index Publication for December 2022 (USDL-23-0017).

Action: National Office Production will update the iFECS CPI tables and recalculate all payment records when the iFECS system is not in use by Office personnel. The March 24, 2023 check will be the first check paid at the 2023 rate.

Please note that if there are any cases with fixed gross overrides, those cases must be reviewed to determine if CPI adjustment is necessary. If so, a manual calculation will be required. If the gross override payment is, in fact, eligible for annual CPI increases, the payment plate should be adjusted in the iFECS system to pay as a “Gross Override with CPI.”

  1. CPI Minimum and Maximum Adjustments Listings. Form CA-841, Cost-of-Living Adjustments; Form CA-842, Minimum Compensation Rates; and Form CA-843, Maximum Compensation Rates, should be updated to indicate the increase for 2022. Attached to this directive is a complete list of all the CPI increases and effective dates since October 1, 1966 through March 1, 2023, for reference.
  2. Verification of Compensation. If claimants write or call for verification of the amount of compensation paid (possibly for mortgage verification; insurance verification; loan application; etc.), please continue to provide this data in letter form. Many times a Benefit Statement may not reach the addressee and regeneration of the form is not possible. A letter indicating the amount of compensation paid every four weeks will be an adequate substitute for this purpose.

Disposition: This Bulletin is to be retained in Part 5, Benefit Payments, Federal (FECA) Procedure Manual, until further notice or the indicated expiration date.

 

ANTONIO RIOS
Director for
Division of Federal Employees’, Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation

Attachment: Cost of Living Adjustments

Distribution: All FECA Program Staff

1 Per 2023 General Schedule (Base) 2023 General Schedule (Base).

ATTACHMENT TO FECA BULLETIN NO. 23-06

COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENTS
Under 5 USC §8146(a)

EFFECTIVE DATE

RATE

EFFECTIVE DATE

RATE

10/01/66

12.5%

03/01/90

4.50%

01/01/68

3.7%

03/01/91

6.1%

12/01/68

4.0%

03/01/92

2.8%

09/01/69

4.4%

03/01/93

2.5%

 

 

03/01/94

2.5%

06/01/70

4.4%

03/01/95

2.7%

03/01/71

4.0%

03/01/96

2.5%

05/01/72

3.9%

03/01/97

3.3%

06/01/73

4.8%

03/01/98

1.5%

01/01/74

5.2%

03/01/99

1.6%

07/01/74

5.3%

 

 

11/01/74

6.3%

03/01/00

2.8%

06/01/75

4.1%

03/01/01

3.3%

01/01/76

4.4%

03/01/02

1.3%

11/01/76

4.2%

03/01/03

2.4%

07/01/77

4.9%

03/01/04

1.6%

05/01/78

5.3%

03/01/05

3.4%

11/01/78

4.9%

03/01/06

3.5%

05/01/79

5.5%

03/01/07

2.4%

10/01/79

5.6%

03/01/08

4.3%

 

 

03/01/09

0.0%

04/01/80

7.2%

 

 

09/01/80

4.0%

03/01/10

3.4%

03/01/81

3.6%

03/01/11

1.7%

03/01/82

8.7%

03/01/12

3.2%

03/01/83

3.9%

03/01/13

1.7%

03/01/84

3.3%

03/01/14

1.5%

03/01/85

3.5%

03/01/15

0.3%

03/01/86

N/A

03/01/16

0.4%

03/01/87

0.7%

03/01/17

2.0%

03/01/88

4.5%

03/01/18

2.2%

03/01/89

4.4%

03/01/19

1.8%
   

03/01/20

2.3%
   

03/01/21

1.4%
   

03/01/22

7.8%
   

03/01/23

6.3%

Prior to September 7, 1974, the new compensation after adding the CPI is rounded to the nearest $1.00 on a monthly basis or the nearest multiple of $.23 on a weekly basis ($.23, $.46, $.69, or $.92). After September 7, 1974, the new compensation after adding the CPI is rounded to the nearest $1.00 on a monthly basis or the nearest $.25 on a weekly basis ($.25, $.50, $.75, or $1.00).

New compensation rates
Prior to 09/07/74 Eff. 11/1/74

.08-.34 = .23

.13-.37 = .25

.35-.57 = .46

.38-.62 = .50

.58-.80 = .69

.63-.87 = .75

.81-.07 = .92

.88-.12 = 1.00

Back to Top of FECA Bulletin No. 23-06

Back to Table of Contents