STATUTORY ISSUES (98 comments) |
Limitations on Survivor Eligibility |
57 comments |
Definition of a Covered DOE Facility |
18 comments |
Qualified Claimant's Death Prior to Award Nullifies Claim or Reduces Compensation |
7 comments |
Miscellaneous Inquiries and Comments |
16 comments |
|
REGULATORY, POLICY AND PROCEDURAL ISSUES (275 comments) |
Difficulties Retrieving Employment, Exposure and Medical Records |
92 comments |
Difficulties in Proving Causation Issues |
96 comments |
Part B Issues |
71 comments |
Miscellaneous Inquiries and Comments |
16 comments |
|
ADMINISTRATIVE OR MISCELLANOUS ISSUES (1962 comments) |
Concerns about Claimant Interactions with DEEOIC Personnel |
96 comments |
Requests for Assistance in Understanding Communications |
193 comments |
The Processing of Claims Has Taken and Will Take Too Much Time |
52 comments |
Locating Experts |
34 comments |
Medical Benefits Issues |
12 comments |
Offsets and Coordination of Benefits |
13 comments |
Miscellaneous Inquiries and Comments |
1562 comments |
Note: This 1562 includes general inquiries and status requests, as well as those who attended the various town hall meetings. |
|
TOTAL |
2,335 comments |
Note: Some of the comments we receive come from individuals such as attorneys and other authorized representatives, Former Worker Program grantee staff, Congressional staff, and claimants who are trying to help their fellow claimants with claims. It should be understood that these individuals are raising issues which potentially affect many people beyond themselves and that information provided to them reaches an even wider audience.
Moreover, the same person may have made more than one comment in a single contact with this Office. In these cases, separate comments were counted individually.
DEEOIC also provides services through eleven resource centers, strategically located to assist potential claimants by supplying information about Part B and Part E of EEOICPA:
- California Resource Center (Livermore, California)
- Denver Resource Center (Westminster, Colorado)
- Espanola Resource Center (Espanola, New Mexico)
- Hanford Resource Center (Richland, Washington)
- Idaho Falls Resource Center (Idaho Falls, Idaho)
- Las Vegas Resource Center (Las Vegas, Nevada)
- New York Resource Center (Amherst, New York)
- Oak Ridge Resource Center (Oak Ridge, Tennessee)
- Paducah Resource Center (Paducah, Kentucky)
- Portsmouth Resource Center (Portsmouth, Ohio)
- Savannah River Resource Center (North Augusta, South Carolina)
DEEOIC's resource centers are located in the general vicinity of those nuclear weapons facilities which they anticipated would produce the highest numbers of claims. They also made an effort to fill resource center management and staff positions with former managers and personnel from contractors for these same nuclear facilities. As a result, the staff members of the resource centers often have a pre-existing personal or professional relationship with claimants they serve or, at a minimum, an institutional knowledge of the facilities, which helps them to provide assistance.
The resource centers respond to questions about the process for applying for EEOICPA benefits; assist claimants with locating medical and work records and with medical payment reimbursement issues; conduct initial employment verification; take occupational histories; supply claimants with application forms, and provide assistance to claimants in completing these forms. The latter usually involves an intake interview with the claimant, often lasting more than two hours. Many claimants have made it clear to the Office of the Ombudsman that they have relied on the resource centers to help navigate the process of applying and being considered for compensation under Part E.
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