Keep this in mind when you stop work for an approved surgery

When a FECA claimant stops work to undergo an approved surgery, your OWCP claims examiner cannot start your check for lost wages without proof that you actually had the surgery. This frequently causes workers' comp payment to be delayed because medical providers can be quite slow in submitting bills and treatment records. It is a good practice to get a copy of the operative report as soon as possible or even a note signed by the doctor confirming that you had the surgery. Make sure you mark your file number on it and fax or upload it to your OWCP file. That way your claims examiner can document that you had the surgery and start paying you. Your claims examiner is concerned that that if, for some reason, your scheduled surgery is delayed or canceled at the last minute, they do not want to have paid you when in fact you are back to work or off work for a reason unrelated to your work injury. 

What happens to OWCP claims if there is another government shutdown?

I am getting asked this question once again as it looks like there is a possibility of another shutdown due to a budget impasse. In the past, OWCP district offices have continued to operate as an essential function, but the Branch of Hearings and Review has been shutdown. We will wait and see what happens.

Here my post from the last shutdown in 2013:
http://owcplawyer.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-government-shutdown-and-owcp.html

This link is from APWU regarding the 2013 shutdown:
http://www.apwu.org/news/web-news-article/how-does-shutdown-affect-owcp-claims

Does the majority in Congress represent the people of the United States or just corporations?

Lawmakers in Congress are about to vote on bills that would seriously jeopardize Americans' right to their day in court. I need your help to stop this dangerous legislation which will make it easier for corporations like cable companies, banks, credit card companies, and drug companies to break the law and get away with it. 

If these bills become law, this sweeping legislation would make it virtually impossible for Americans who are cheated or wronged to seek justice in our courts.

Please send a STRONG message to Congress and tell your representative to vote "no" on each bill. The following link is an online tool that will allow you to automatically write or call your members of Congress, and helps explain why your representatives should strongly oppose this bill:

www.takejusticeback.com/ProtectMyRightToFight.
  

You can also call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask the operator to connect you to your Congressional Representatives or visit this link to find and contact your two Senators and your Representative.

OWCP 2017 periodic roll payment schedule available online

OWCP has published the payment dates for periodic roll payments for 2017 which can be found at the following link: https://www.dol.gov/owcp/dfec/regs/compliance/Periodic-Roll-Payment-Schedule.htm

Did OWCP use Dr. Garelick to rate your upper extremity schedule award?

David H. Garelick, MD, is a district medical advisor (DMA) for OWCP reviewing schedule award requests. OWCP recently acknowledged that he has been misapplying the AMA Guides, 6th Edition ("AMAG6"), with regard to upper extremity schedule award calculations. This has probably been occurring since 2009. As a result, many claimants received smaller schedule award percentages than they should have for arm injuries when there was a loss of range of motion. If this applies to you or someone you know, you should investigate whether the award was properly calculated using the corrected Table 15-5 in the revised AMAG6 released May 2009. If you are concerned about whether Dr. Garelick was involved in your schedule award, you can write to OWCP requesting a copy of the “DMA memo that was used to determine my schedule award.” The DMA memo will be signed by the doctor who authored it. This only applies to arm ratings and only if you have a loss of range of motion that was excluded from your rating.