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EEOICPA & RECA

EEOICPA - Part B

EEOICPA - Part E

RECA

EEOICPA - Part B

EEOICPA Part B deals with compensation of $150,000 and payment of medical expenses. The following information was obtained from the U.S. Department of Labor website on June 17, 2016.

  • Employees of the Department of Energy (DOE), its contractors or subcontractors, and atomic weapons employers with radiation-induced cancer if:
    • the employee developed cancer after working at a covered facility of the Department of Energy, its contractors and subcontractors; and
    • the employee’s cancer is determined at least as likely as not related to that employment in accordance with guidelines issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, or
    • the employee is determined to be a member of the Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) (employees who worked at least 250 days before February 1, 1992, for the Department of Energy or its contractors or subcontractors at one or more of the three Gaseous Diffusion Plants located at Oak Ridge, TN, Paducah, KY or Portsmouth, OH, or who were exposed to radiation related to certain underground nuclear tests at Amchitka, AK, or who qualify as a member of one of the additional SEC classes added by the Secretary of Health and Human Services as provided for under the Act) and developed one of certain specified cancers
  • Employees of the Department of Energy, its contractors and subcontractors, and designated beryllium vendors who worked at covered facilities where they were exposed to beryllium produced or processed for the Department of Energy who developed Chronic Beryllium Disease; and
  • Employees of the Department of Energy or its contractors and subcontractors who worked at least 250 days during the mining of tunnels at underground nuclear weapons tests sites in Nevada or Alaska and who developed chronic silicosis.

If the employee is no longer living, the compensation is payable to eligible survivors. Compensation of $50,000 and payment of medical expenses from the date a claim is filed is available for.

EEOICPA - Part E

The information below regarding Part E of the EEOICPA was obtained from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on June 17, 2016.
Compensation and payment of medical expenses is available to employees of DOE contractors and subcontractors, or their survivors, who develop an illness due to exposure to toxic substances at certain DOE facilities. Uranium miners, millers, and ore transporters are also eligible for benefits if they develop an illness as a result of toxic exposure and worked at a facility covered under Section 5 of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). Under Part E, a toxic substance is not limited to radiation but includes things such as chemicals, solvents, acids and metals. Variable compensation up to $250,000 is determined based on wage loss, impairment, and survivorship.

  • Wage loss is based on the number of years that the employee was unable to work or sustained a reduction in earnings as a result of the illness. Wage loss compensation is payable for years of lost wages that are prior to regular Social Security Retirement age (usually age 65). Wage loss compensation is calculated at:
    • $10,000 for each year in which wages were 25-50% less than the Average Annual Wage (AAW). The AAW is the average earnings for the 12 quarters (36 months) prior to the first quarter of wage loss.
    • $15,000 for each year in which wages were less than 50% of the AAW
  • Impairment is a decrease in the functioning of a body part or organ as it affects the whole body, as a result of the illness. An impairment rating is performed once the claimant has reached Maximum Medical Improvement (i.e. the condition is stabilized and is unlikely to improve with additional medical treatment). Impairment compensation is calculated at:
    • $2500 for each one percent of whole body impairment
  • Survivor benefits include compensation of at least $125,000.
    • If the employee sustained wage loss as a result of the covered illness, and that wage loss was prior to Social Security Retirement age (usually age 65), additional compensation may be awarded as follows:
      • $0 – if the employee had less than 10 years of wage loss
      • $25,000 – if the employee had between 10 and 19 years of wage loss or
      • $50,000 – if the employee had 20 years or more wage lossTotal survivor compensation not to exceed $175,000.
  •  
  • Eligible survivors may receive compensation if the employee’s death was caused, contributed to or aggravated by the covered illness. Eligible survivors include:
    • A spouse who was married to the employee for at least one year prior to his/her death.
    If there is no surviving spouse, then compensation may be awarded to a covered child if, at the time of the employee’s death, the child was:
    • Under the age of 18
    • Under the age of 23 years and a full-time student continuously enrolled in an educational institution, or
    • Incapable of self support
    Medical expenses are not included in the $250,000 cap.
    • Uranium workers (or their survivors) previously awarded benefits by the Department of Justice under Section 5 of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.
    Employees of the Department of Energy, its contractors and subcontractors who were exposed to beryllium on the job and now have beryllium sensitivity will receive medical monitoring to check for Chronic Beryllium Disease.

RECA

The United States carried out around 200 atmospheric nuclear weapons tests from 1945 to 1962. Tens of thousands of workers assisted by mining and processing uranium, which later resulted in a variety of long term illnesses. Following the tests’ end in 1962 many of these workers filed class action lawsuits alleging exposure to known radiation hazards. These suits were dismissed by the appellate courts. Congress responded by passing a program granting partial restitution to workers who developed serious illnesses after exposure to radiation released during the atmospheric nuclear tests or after employment in the uranium industry: the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act was passed on October 5, 1990. The Act’s scope of coverage was broadened in 2000.

  • The Act is an apology to workers and provides monetary compensation to individuals who contracted certain cancers and other serious diseases:

    • following their exposure to radiation released during the atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, OR
    • following their occupational exposure to radiation while employed in the uranium industry during the Cold War arsenal buildup.

    This law was intended to be a low-cost alternative to individual lawsuits. Claimants qualify for compensation by establishing the diagnosis of a listed compensable disease after working or residing in a designated location for a specific period of time.

     

RECA Covered Areas

  • RECA establishes lump sum compensation awards for individuals who contracted specified diseases in three defined populations:

    • Uranium miners, millers, and ore transporters – $100,000;
    • “Onsite participants” at atmospheric nuclear weapons tests – $75,000; and
    • Individuals who lived downwind of the Nevada Test Site (“downwinders”) – $50,000.

We are experts at providing work-related home health care.

Were you employed in an area that supported the Cold War effort or nuclear armament? Or were you a direct employee, contractor, or subcontractor of the Department of Energy during the Cold War Era?

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