Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program

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Energy Employees Occupational Illness
Compensation Program
Town Hall Meeting Oak Ridge National Laboratory
(X-10) Oak Ridge, Tennessee February 13, 2013
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Administration of the EEOICPA

• Part B (October 2000)
• Part E (October 2004)
• Agencies
• Department of Labor (DOL)
• Department of Energy (DOE)
• Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
• Department of Justice (DOJ)

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EEOICPA Compensation

• 9 Billion Total Compensation
• 4.80 Billion Part B
• 2.83 Billion Part E
• 1.37 Billion Medical

Data as of February 3, 2013
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Oak Ridge National Laboratory (X-10) Compensation

• 499.2 Million Total Compensation
• 242.9 Million Part B
• 165.2 Million Part E
• 91.1 Million Medical

Data as of February 3, 2013
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Part B Whos Eligible?

• Covered Employees
• DOE employees or its contractors/subcontractors
• Atomic Weapons Employers (AWE)
• Eligible Survivors
• Surviving spouse
• Children Regardless of age
• Parents

• Beryllium vendors (BV)
• RECA Section 5 awardees
• Grandchildren
• Grandparents

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Means of Verifying Employment

• DOE
• EE-5 Employment Verification Form
• Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education
  (ORISE)
• The Center for Construction Research and Training
  (CPWR)
• Corporate Verifiers
• SSA wage data
• Other Sources
• Including affidavits and records or documents
  created by state and federal agencies

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Part B Covered Conditions

• Radiation induced cancer
• Special Exposure Cohort
• Probability of Causation
• Beryllium Disease
• Silicosis (for miners in Nevada and Alaska)
• Supplement for RECA Section 5 uranium workers

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Part B Radiation Induced CancerCausation

• Dose Reconstruction
• Conducted by NIOSH
• Level and extent of occupational radiation dose
• Probability of Causation (PoC)
• Scientific calculation of likelihood that
  radiation exposure caused cancer
• NIOSH-IREP
• PoC - 50 or greater for award

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Part B Special Exposure Cohort

• Causation presumed for Special Exposure Cohort
  (SEC) members diagnosed with a specified cancer
• NIOSH Dose Reconstruction is not needed
• Specified Cancer
• 22 cancers named in law

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Part B Adding New SEC Classes

• NIOSH designates new SEC classes
• Worker Petition or Agency Decision
• Advisory Board Assistance
• 4 statutory SEC classes (3 GDPs Amchitka)
• As of February 6, 2013, HHS has designated 99
  additional SEC classes
• DOL administers SEC cases
• No role in designation

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory (X-10) SEC Class

• SEC Class Effective January 6, 2013
• Qualifying Employment
• DOE employees (or employees of predecessor agency
  AEC)
• DOE contractors and subcontractors
• Worked at X-10 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
• 250 workdays from June 17, 1943 through July 31,
  1955

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X-10 SEC Claim Review

• Claims reviewed for SEC inclusion
• Pending dose reconstruction at time of SEC class
• Previously denied for POC lt50
• Potentially affected cases identified tracked
  to resolution
• Goals for each new SEC class to prioritize SEC
  acceptance

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Part E Whos Eligible?

• Eligible Covered Employees
• DOE contractor or subcontractor employees
• Does NOT include DOE, AWE, and BV workers
• Eligible Survivors
• Surviving Spouse
• Employees Children, if no surviving spouse, and
  if at the time of the employees death the child
  was
• Under the age of 18
• Under the age of 23 and a full-time student,
  continuously enrolled in an educational
  institution since age 18
• Any age if medically incapable of self support

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X-10 Contractors

• Contractors
• University of Chicago (1943 1945)
• Monsanto Chemical (1945 1947)
• Union Carbide and Carbon Corp. (1948 1984)
• Martin Marietta Energy Systems (1984 1994)
• Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corp. (1994
  1998)
• UT Battelle (2000 present)
• DOE covered facility from 1943 through the
  present

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Part E Illness from Toxic Exposure

• All conditions (not symptoms of conditions) are
  covered
• Must show that toxic exposure at a covered DOE
  facility was a significant factor in
• Causing, Contributing to, or Aggravating the
  claimed condition
• DOL will assist with verifying Part E toxic
  exposure
• Claimant bears overall burden of proving his or
  her claim

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Part E Means of Verifying Toxic Exposure

• DOL Resource Centers
• Occupational History Questionnaires (OHQ)
• Site Exposure Matrices (SEM)
• Identifies toxic substances related to labor
  categories, processes, buildings, and major
  incidents
• Website available at www.sem.dol.gov
• DOE Document Acquisition Request (DAR)
• Claimant Records

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Part E Employee Impairment

• Determination of permanent whole person
  impairment due to covered illness
• AMAs Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent
  Impairment, 5th Edition
• 2,500 awarded for each of impairment

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Part E Employee Wage Loss

• Medical evidence must show decreased capacity to
  work
• Employee Compensation
• Any year lt50 of the pre-disability annual wage
  15,000 compensation
• Any year gt 50 but lt75 of the pre-disability
  annual wage 10,000 compensation

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Benefits
Part B Part E
150,000 Employee Survivor Impairment 2,500 per (Employee)
50,000 RECA Employee Survivor Wage Loss 10,000 -15,000 per year (Employee)
125,000 Survivor ( lump-sum Wage Loss if eligible)
400,000 CAP for BE combined 400,000 CAP for BE combined
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Decision Process

• Recommended Decision District Office
• Preliminary determination
• Cover letter, decision, and rights to object
  (oral hearing/review of written record)
• Final Decision Final Adjudication Branch (FAB)
• Affirmation of recommend decision or remand based
  on objection/independent review
• Claimant Rights Reconsideration Reopening

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Claimant Responsibilities

• File Claim
• Collect/Copy/Submit relevant records
• Respond to information requests
• Talk to co-workers get affidavits
• Seek assistance if you need help call Resource
  Center
• Review decision and information for appeal

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Claimant Resources

• Resource Centers 11 locations
• Oak Ridge Resource Center toll free number (866)
  481-0411
• District Offices 4 locations
• Jacksonville District Office toll free number
  [phone]
• DEEOIC web site
• http//www.dol.gov/owcp/energy/
• General program information
• SEM website
• Forms
• Sample decisions

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District Office Jurisdictional Map
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Questions?