Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #117177

Richard Miller, Government Accountability Project, 1612 K Street, N.W., Suite 400, Washington, DC 20006, 413-536-3858, RickUDana@aol.com, Jeanne Cisco, Benefits Representative/WHPP Staff, PACE Local 5-689, P.O. Box 467, Piketon, OH 45661, Laurence J. Fuortes, MD, MS, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, 2124 Westlawn Bldg, Iowa City, IA 52242, and Ken Silver, DSc, SM, Department of Environmental Health, East Tennessee State University, PO Box 70682, Johnson City, TN 37614.

The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000(EEOICPA) is the first federal entitlement program for American working people since the Black Lung Benefits Reform Act of 1977. EEOICPA is a timely rejoinder to the program of 13 federally-funded medical surveillance projects which since 1993 have screened more than 26,000 current and former workers at government owned, contractor operated (GOCO) nuclear weapons laboratories and plants of the Department of Energy. Three principal occupational illnesses of nuclear weapons workers (chronic beryllium disease, radiogenic cancer and silicosis) are addressed by disease-specific provisions in the Act. Recent reform amendments (Subtitle E) provide nuclear weapons workers and their survivors with a federal alternative to the filing of occupational disease claims under state workers' compensation. This remedy is generally applicable to illnesses for which it is “at least as likely as not that exposure…was a significant factor in aggravating, contributing to or causing the illness.” A trust fund has been created to pay claims (so-called “direct spending”), obviating the need for annual appropriations from Congress. In addition to workers at GOCO facilities, EEOICPA covers employees of “beryllium vendors” and “atomic weapons employers.” Panelists will discuss EEOICPA from the varied perspectives of local union involvement, agency implementation and worker advocacy.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session participants will be able to

• Articulate the EEOICPA's importance as an entitlement program
• Describe the illnesses covered by the different subtitles of EEOICPA
• Recognize the role of unions, community organizations, advocacy groups and the federal Advisory Board in EEOICPA implementation
• Describe the importance of historical issues in EEOICPA

Keywords: Radiation, Workers' Compensation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation