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   "The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in government, is to live
under the government of worse men" - Plato 427-347 BC

  
Statement of Joseph M. Perez
before the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee
Government Management, Information and Technology Subcommittee July 6,1998
TIPS:   The 88-page Testimony has been scanned and formatted for this website  by FedupFeds, and separated into 16 sections below, for easy navigating.  Clicking on each topic below takes you to that topic on the right page without hunting.  At the end of each section of pages, you may click on Next Page to continue, without returning to this Table of Contents.   Sections may be printed, but these pages will not correspond exactly to printed pages.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary I-X

 i
 
Office of Workers' Compensation Programs 1
The Workers' Compensation Covenant 1
DFEC's Mission 4
A Paradigm for Success 5
Rising Compensation Costs Upset Employers' expectations 6
Table 1: Relationship between Injuries and Growth of Periodic Roll 7
The DFEC Response 7
The Impact 9
Table 2: Correlation between PRM Activity and Hearing Requests 10
Table 3: Correlation between QCM Cases and Hearing Requests 11
Measuring Success 12
Injured Federal Employees Are Not Receiving the Benefit of Their Covenant 14
Table 4: Remand Rate at Branch of Hearings and Review 16
Table 5: Relationship Between Pre-Hearing Remands and H&R Backlog 19
 
The Myth of Timeliness 21
Table 6: Hearing Dispositions by Category 23
The Rush to Judgment 27
Claimants Need More Time to Submit Required Evidence 31
Claimants Do Not Receive Timely Resolution of Improperly Denied Claims 35
DFEC Does Not Treat Claimants in a Fair and Equitable Manner 39
 
Burden of Proof or Insurmountable Barrier? 45
Manipulation of the Factual Evidence 50
Manipulation of the Medical Evidence 57

 

Flawed Wage Earning Capacity Determinations 64
Table 7: Relationship between Nurse Interventions and Hearing Requests 70
DFEC Tightens the Screws 71
DOL Not Prepared to Ask Hard Questions 77
OWCP "Heal Thyself" 80
Possible Solutions 81
Enforce Section 19 of OSHA 81
Enforce 18 U.S.C. § 1922 82
Provide More Realistic Time Frames for Submission of Evidence 82
Involve Claimants in Developing Statements of Accepted Facts 83
Develop Medical Evidence in Nonadversarial Manner 84
Take Steps to Prevent Erroneous Decisions 84
Move the Branch of Hearings & Review to the Office of the Secretary 87
DFEC Should Treat Injured Employees Fairly and Equitably 88
    
       "The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped."       - Hubert H. Humphrey
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