The Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA): Workers’ Compensation for Federal Employees

The Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) is the workers’ compensation program for federal employees. Like all workers’ compensation programs, FECA pays disability, survivors, and medical benefits, without fault, to employees who are injured or become ill in the course of their federal employment and the survivors of employees killed on the job. The FECA program is administered by the Department of Labor (DOL) and the costs of benefits are paid by each employee’s host agency. Employees of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) currently comprise the largest group of FECA beneficiaries and are responsible for the largest share of FECA benefits. Elements of the FECA program include basic disability benefits equal to two-thirds of an injured worker’s pre-disability wage, which rises to 75% of the pre-disability wage if the worker has any dependents; disability benefits that continue for the duration of disability or the life of the beneficiary and in cases of traumatic injuries, beneficiaries can receive a continuation of their full pay for the first 45 days; disability benefits for persons with specific permanent partial disabilities, such as the loss of a limb, for a set number weeks provided by schedules set by statute and regulation; all medical costs associated with covered conditions without any copayments, cost-sharing, or use of private insurance by the beneficiaries; cash benefits for the survivors of employees killed on the job based on the worker’s wages and a modest benefit for funeral costs; and vocational rehabilitation services to assist beneficiaries in returning to work. This report also focuses on several key policy issues facing the program, including the disproportionate share of claims and program costs attributed to postal workers, the payment of FECA benefits after retirement age, the overall level of FECA disability benefits as compared with those offered by the states, and the administration of the FECA program. The modern FECA program can trace its roots to 1916 but has not been significantly amended since 1974. A legislative history of the FECA program is provided in the Appendix

Who Is a “Veteran”?—Basic Eligibility for Veterans’ Benefits

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers a broad range of benefits to veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces and to certain members of their families. Among these benefits are various types of financial assistance, including monthly cash payments to disabled veterans, health care, education, and housing. Certain criteria must be met to be eligible to receive any of the benefits administered by the VA. This report focuses on basic eligibility and entitlement requirements for former servicemembers for benefits administered by the VA. Certain VA benefits are available to current servicemembers, and the eligibility requirements for those benefits are not a component of this report. The VA uses a two-step process to evaluate claims for benefits. First, the claimant must demonstrate eligibility for veterans’ benefits in general. That is, the claimant must prove that he or she is a bona fide veteran and verify certain related matters. Second, the veteran must prove entitlement to the particular benefit being sought

Social Security and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Provisions in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015

[Excerpt] Title VIII of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (H.R. 1314, P.L. 114-74) makes several changes to the Social Security programs. Among these changes is a temporary reallocation of the Social Security payroll taxes so that a larger share is deposited in the Disability Insurance (DI) trust fund to extend the life of this trust fund beyond its current predicted exhaustion in 2016. Under this provision, the allocation of the 12.40% Social Security payroll tax assigned to the DI trust fund increases from 1.80% to 2.37% and the allocation to the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) trust fund decreases from 10.60% to 10.03%. These changes last through 2018. In addition, these provisions extend the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) demonstration authority for the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) programs, make changes to data and earnings reporting, and increase penalties for benefit fraud. Title VIII of the act includes the following subtitles: Subtitle A. Ensuring Correct Payments and Reducing Fraud Subtitle B. Promoting Opportunity for Disability Beneficiaries Subtitle C. Protecting Social Security Benefits Subtitle D. Relieving Administrative Burdens and Miscellaneous Provision

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA): Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) and COVID-19

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) does not currently have a specific standard that protects healthcare or other workers from airborne or aerosol transmission of disease or diseases transmitted by airborne droplets. Some in Congress, and some groups representing healthcare and other workers, are calling on OSHA to promulgate an emergency temporary standard (ETS) to protect workers from exposure to SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) gives OSHA the ability to promulgate an ETS that would remain in effect for up to six months without going through the normal review and comment process of rulemaking. OSHA, however, has rarely used this authority in the past—not since the courts struck down its ETS on asbestos in 1983. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), which operates California’s state occupational safety and health plan, has had an aerosol transmissible disease (ATD) standard since 2009. This standard includes, among other provisions, the requirement that employers provide covered employees with respirators, rather than surgical masks, when these workers interact with ATDs, such as known or suspected COVID-19 cases. Also, according to the Cal/OSHA ATD standard, certain procedures require the use of powered air purifying respirators (PAPR). Both OSHA and Cal/OSHA have issued enforcement guidance to address situations when the shortage of respirators may impede an employer’s ability to comply with existing standards. H.R. 6139, the COVID-19 Health Care Worker Protection Act of 2020, would require OSHA to promulgate an ETS on COVID-19 that incorporates both the Cal/OSHA ATD standard and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) 2007 guidelines on occupational exposure to infectious agents in healthcare settings. The CDC’s 2007 guidelines generally require stricter controls than its interim guidance on COVID-19 exposure. The provisions of H.R. 6139 were incorporated into the version of H.R. 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, as introduced in the House. However, the OSHA ETS provisions were not included in the version of legislation that passed the House and the Senate and was signed into law as P.L. 116-127. A group representing hospitals claims that because SARS-Cov-2 is primarily transmitted by airborne droplets and surface contacts, surgical masks are sufficient protection for workers coming into routine contact with COVID-19 cases, and that the shortage of respirators may adversely impact some hospitals’ patient capacities. H.R. 6379, as introduced by the House, also includes a requirement for an OSHA ETS and permanent standard to address COVID-19 exposure

Military Funeral Honors for Veterans

[Excerpt] Eligible veterans are entitled to receive certain military honors at their funerals. In general, these honors are provided by the Department of Defense (DOD) to eligible veterans who are interred or inurned at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) national cemeteries, state veterans cemeteries, and private cemeteries. There is no cost to the family of a veteran for military honors

Railroad Retirement Board: Trust Fund Investment Practices

[Excerpt] The Railroad Retirement Act authorizes retirement, survivor, and disability benefits for railroad workers and their families. The Railroad Retirement Board (RRB), an independent federal agency, administers these benefits. Workers covered by the RRB include those employed by railroads engaged in interstate commerce and related subsidiaries, railroad associations, and railroad labor organizations. These benefits are earned by railroad workers and their families in lieu of Social Security. Railroad retirement benefits are divided into two tiers. Tier I benefits are generally computed using the Social Security benefit formula, on the basis of earnings covered by either the Railroad Retirement or Social Security programs. In some cases, RRB Tier I benefits can be higher than comparable Social Security benefits. For example, RRB beneficiaries may receive unreduced Tier I retirement benefits as early as aged 60 if they have at least 30 years of railroad service; Social Security beneficiaries may receive unreduced retirement benefits only when they reach their full retirement ages, currently rising from aged 65 to 67. RRB Tier II benefits are similar to private pension benefits and are based only on railroad work. The Tier I railroad retirement benefit that is equivalent to Social Security benefits is mainly finance by Tier I payroll taxes (typically the same rate as the 12.4% Social Security payroll tax) and Social Security’s financial interchange transfers.3 Tier II benefits, Tier I benefits in excess of Social Security benefits, and supplemental annuities4 are mainly financed by Tier II payroll taxes (currently 13.1% on employers and 4.9% on employees) and transfers from the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust (NRRIT; hereinafter, the Trust)

Veterans’ Benefits: Pension Benefit Programs

[Excerpt] The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers pension programs for certain low-income veterans and their surviving spouses and dependent children. This report discusses the Improved Disability Pension, which makes payments to certain low-income veterans, and the Improved Death Pension, which makes payments to certain low-income surviving spouses and dependent children of deceased veterans. To qualify for either program, individuals must have become eligible for payments on or after January 1, 1979. Both pension programs were created by P.L. 95-588, the Veterans and Survivors Pension Improvement Act of 1978. In addition, this report discusses a special pension program for Medal of Honor recipients. This report does not discuss several other pension programs that are administered by the VA, such as the Old Law Disability Pension and the Section 306 Disability Pension, which make payments to low-income veterans, and the Old Law Death Pension and the Section 306 Death Pension, which make payments to low-income surviving spouses and dependent children of veterans; these programs apply only to veterans and their survivors who became entitled to such benefits before 1979. This report also does not discuss pension programs for veterans of specific periods of war before World War I, such as the Civil War, the Indian Wars, and the Spanish-American War. Finally, this report does not address the military retirement system. For information on that system, see CRS Report RL34751, Military Retirement: Background and Recent Developments, by Kristy N. Kamarck

Social Security Administration (SSA): Budget Issues

This report provides an overview of the Social Security Administration's mandatory spending but largely focuses on discretionary appropriations for the agency's administrative expenses. The size of the annual appropriations for administrative expenses affects the agency's ability to effectively administer the SSA's benefit programs and conduct program integrity activities designed to ensure that only eligible persons receive federal benefits

Regulation of Fertilizers: Ammonium Nitrate and Anhydrous Ammonia

This report will focus on some of the federal regulatory programs overseeing storage of ammonium nitrate and anhydrous ammonia by retailers. The report will not address federal regulation of material in transport. It will discuss federal occupational safety, environmental, and security statutes and regulations applicable to each chemical. Select policy issues regarding these federal regulatory programs will be highlighted. It does not address various law enforcement activities related to tracking of anhydrous ammonia used for illegal drug synthesis (e.g., methamphetamine)

Veterans’ Benefits: Burial Benefits and National Cemeteries

[Excerpt] This report focuses on burial benefits provided by the VA. It does not discuss national cemeteries under the National Park Service, national cemeteries under the jurisdiction of the American Battle Monuments Commission, or Arlington National Cemetery, which is within the jurisdiction of the Department of the Army.CRS_Veterans_Benefits_Burial_and_National_Cemeteries.pdf: 124 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020