Improving Access to Workers’ Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act

The Improving Access to Workers’ Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act (S 131) expands healthcare provider options for federal employees injured on the job by adding nurse practitioners and physician assistants to the list of eligible providers under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act. It amends the law to define "other eligible provider" as these professionals, within their state-authorized scope of practice, allowing injured workers to seek treatment from them without requiring a physician referral. The bill updates related sections of the law to replace "physician" with "physician or other eligible provider" in key provisions. Regulations implementing these changes must be finalized within six months of the bill’s enactment.