FECA Practitioners Merge Into One Unified Bar Group

At the annual convention of WILG (Workers' Injury Lw and Advocacy Group) in Arizona last month, the country's two groups of attorneys who represent FECA (Federal Employees' Compensation Act) claimants completed their merger and became one group - the FECA Section of WILG.  WILG is the nation's only "stand-alone" professional association of attorneys who represent injured workers in their workers' compensation claims. WILG has well over 1,000 members, and members practicing workers' compensation law in every state and in every federal jurisdiction.

The significance of this development is that, for the first time, the interests of injured federal workers can be spoken for with one voice -- that being a voice with a presence on Capitol Hill and an ongoing dialog with those at the U. S. Department of Labor who run the FECA system.

At the Arizona convention, FECA attorneys from across the country assembled, gave presentations, and interacted with other stakeholders in the FECA system, including two representatives of the USDOL National Office from Washington, DC, a local Arizona doctor involved in these cases, and a federal employee union leader also from DC.

Topics covered on FECA included a review of the year's most significant cases handed down by the Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), hearings and appeals procedures, the role of unions in FECA, medical issues, attorney fees, financial planning for federal employees, the Renzi case, and a "report from the inside" presented by high-level USDOL personnel.

My partner Daniel Goodkin presented a detailed statistical analysis of ECAB decisions issued over the last two years, showing alarming trends which have been discussed here in prior newsletters (e.g., treating doctors never being given the benefit of the doubt over the government's Second Opinion doctors).  I presented a summary of developments in DC regarding FECA, including legislative proposals and my meetings with USDOL personnel this year.

Dan and I also received Special Recognition Awards from WILG for our work on behalf of the FECA Section, including the merger mentioned above.

NOTE 1: OWCP has taken some action on the compounded medications issue mentioned in our last newsletter, and is planning to do more. Word is that they will follow the lead of other insurers like TriCare and impose limitations on payments for these personalized medications in light of both their extremely high cost and serious questions about their medical efficacy.

NOTE 2: A recent ECAB case in which the Board's majority did not rule in favor of the claim, but in which Chief Judge Christopher Godfrey issued a strongly-worded dissent, got top billing on the ECAB review segment -- more on that case later.