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March 6, 2009 — The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation (DEEOIC) is pleased to announce that it has paid over $1.9 billion in compensation and medical benefits under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA or Act) to those 25,000+ claimants who filed a claim with the Department of Energy (DOE) under former Part D.
Part E was created as an amendment to the Act in October 2004 to alleviate the delay claimants were experiencing under the old Part D program administered by DOE. Under this new amendment, DOL was charged with implementing the new Part E program. At the time of Part E’s implementation, more than 25,000+ cases were transferred to DOL from DOE. DOL was determined to ensure that these individuals who filed claims under former Part D would not have to “go back to the end of the line” for adjudication of their claims. Therefore, during fiscal years (FY) 2005 through 2007, DOL’s DEEOIC staff devoted significant attention to implementing the new Part E program alongside the Part B program.
In response to the new workload, DEEOIC quickly identified certain types of claims that met specific, straightforward criteria contained in the amendment itself for immediate adjudication. On January 10, 2005, Senator Lamar Alexander, along with former Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employment Standards Administration Victoria A. Lipnic, presented one of the first Part E compensation payments of $125,000 to a surviving widow of an employee who worked at the Y-12 facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Initial processing on all the backlog cases was completed in FY 2007. Currently, over $680 million in Part E benefits, $1.2 billion in Part B benefits, and $107 million in medical benefits have been paid to those 25,000+ individuals whose former Part D case was inherited from DOE in 2004.
Part E provides federal compensation and medical benefits to contractors and subcontractors of DOE who worked at certain DOE facilities and sustained a covered illness as a result of exposure to toxic substances. Certain survivors of these workers may also be eligible for benefits. Further, Part E compensation may also be available to those uranium workers who worked at Section 5 uranium mines, uranium mills, and ore buying facilities covered under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) administered by the Department of Justice.
For additional information regarding how to file a claim under Part E of the EEOICPA, please contact your nearest Resource Center or call (866) 888-3322 toll-free. A listing of all Resource Centers can be found at: http://www.dol.gov/esa/owcp/energy/regs/compliance/ResourceMeetings/ResourceCenters.htm.
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