[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                   STRENGTHENING THE SAFETY NET FOR 
                            INJURED WORKERS

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                            SUBCOMMITTEE ON
                         WORKFORCE PROTECTIONS

                                OF THE

                    COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR
                     U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

            HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, DECEMBER 2, 2021

                               __________

                           Serial No. 117-37

                               __________

      Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and Labor

[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]                                 

          Available via: edlabor.house.gov or www.govinfo.gov

                               __________
                               

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
46-181 PDF                 WASHINGTON : 2022                     
          
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------                                
                              

                    COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR

             ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia, Chairman

RAUL M. GRIJALVA, Arizona            VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina,
JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut              Ranking Member
GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN,      JOE WILSON, South Carolina
  Northern Mariana Islands           GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania
FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida         TIM WALBERG, Michigan
SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon             GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin
MARK TAKANO, California              ELISE M. STEFANIK, New York
ALMA S. ADAMS, North Carolina        RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia
MARK DeSAULNIER, California          JIM BANKS, Indiana
DONALD NORCROSS, New Jersey          JAMES COMER, Kentucky
PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington          RUSS FULCHER, Idaho
JOSEPH D. MORELLE, New York          FRED KELLER, Pennsylvania
SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania             GREGORY F. MURPHY, North Carolina
LUCY McBATH, Georgia                 MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS, Iowa
JAHANA HAYES, Connecticut            BURGESS OWENS, Utah
ANDY LEVIN, Michigan                 BOB GOOD, Virginia
ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota                LISA C. McCLAIN, Michigan
HALEY M. STEVENS, Michigan           DIANA HARSHBARGER, Tennessee
TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ, New Mexico   MARY E. MILLER, Illinois
MONDAIRE JONES, New York             VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
KATHY E. MANNING, North Carolina     SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin
FRANK J. MRVAN, Indiana              MADISON CAWTHORN, North Carolina
JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York, Vice-Chair  MICHELLE STEEL, California
MARK POCAN, Wisconsin                JULIA LETLOW, Louisiana
JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas                Vacancy
MIKIE SHERRILL, New Jersey
JOHN A. YARMUTH, Kentucky
ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York
KWEISI MFUME, Maryland

                   Veronique Pluviose, Staff Director
                  Cyrus Artz, Minority Staff Director
                                 ------                                

                 SUBCOMMITTEE ON WORKFORCE PROTECTIONS

               ALMA S. ADAMS, North Carolina, Chairwoman

MARK TAKANO, California              FRED KELLER, Pennsylvania,
DONALD NORCROSS,New Jersey             Ranking Member
PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington          ELISE M. STEFANIK, New York
ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota                MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS, Iowa
HALEY M. STEVENS, Michigan           BURGESS OWENS, Utah
MONDAIRE JONES, New York             BOB GOOD, Virginia
JOHN A. YARMUTH, Kentucky            MADISON CAWTHORN, North Carolina
ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia  MICHELLE STEEL, California
                                     VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina (ex 
                                         officio)
                           
                           
                           C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

Hearing held on December 2, 2021.................................     1

Statement of Members:
    Adams, Hon. Alma S., Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Workforce 
      Protections................................................     1
        Prepared statement of....................................     4
    Keller, Hon. Fred, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Workforce 
      Protections................................................     9
        Prepared statement of....................................    10

Statement of Witnesses:
    Carbajal, Hon. Salud O., a Representative in Congress from 
      the State of California....................................     6
        Prepared statement of....................................     8
    Costa, Thomas M., Director, Education, Workforce, and Income 
      Security, Government Accountability Office.................    23
        Prepared statement of....................................    26
    Godfrey, Christopher J., Director, Office of Workers' 
      Compensation Programs, U.S. Department of Labor............    12
        Prepared statement of....................................    15

Additional Submissions:
    Takano, Hon. Mark, a Representative in Congress from the 
      State of California:
        Warrior Met Coal, Form 10-K, Annual Report for the fiscal 
          year ended December 31, 2017...........................    65
        Warrior Met Coal, Form 10-K, Annual Report for the fiscal 
          year ended December 31, 2018...........................    73
        Warrior Met Coal, Form 10-K, Annual Report for the fiscal 
          year ended December 31, 2019...........................    85
        Warrior Met Coal, Form 10-K, Annual Report for the fiscal 
          year ended December 31, 2020...........................   100
    Carbajal, Hon. Salud O., a Representative in Congress from 
      the State of California:
        Letter dated December 1, 2021 from the International 
          Association of Fire Fighters...........................    64
    Mr. Keller:
        Letter dated October 19, 2021............................   110
    Questions submitted for the record by:
        Chairwoman Adams.........................................   115
        Chairman Scott...........................................   115
        Omar, Hon. Ilhan, a Representative in Congress from the 
          State of 
          Minnesota..............................................   115
        Ranking Member Foxx......................................   116
        Ranking Member Keller....................................   117
    Responses to questions submitted for the record by:
        Mr. Godfrey..............................................   120

 
            STRENGTHENING THE SAFETY NET FOR INJURED WORKERS

                              ----------                              


                       Thursday, December 2, 2021

                  House of Representatives,
             Subcommittee on Workforce Protections,
                          Committee on Education and Labor,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:13 p.m., via 
Zoom, Hon. Alma Adams (Chairwoman of the Subcommittee) 
presiding.
    Present: Representatives Adams, Takano, Jayapal, Omar, 
Stevens, Scott, Keller, Stefanik, Miller-Meeks, Owens, Good, 
Cawthorn, Steel, and Foxx (ex officio).
    Also present: Representatives Courtney and Mrvan.
    Staff present: Ilana Brunner, General Counsel; Rasheedah 
Hasan, Chief Clerk; Sheila Havenner, Director of Information 
Technology; Eli Hovland, Policy Associate; Ariel Jona, Policy 
Associate; Kayla Pennebecker, Staff Assistant; Veronique 
Pluviose, Staff Director; Cyrus Artz, Minority Staff Director; 
Michael Davis, Minority Operations Assistant; Rob Green, 
Minority Director of Workforce Policy; Taylor Hittle, Minority 
Professional Staff Member; Georgie Littlefair, Minority 
Legislative Assistant; John Martin, Minority Deputy Director of 
Workforce Policy/Counsel; and Hannah Matesic, Minority Director 
of Member Services and Coalitions.
    Chairwoman Adams. The Subcommittee on Workforce Protections 
will come to order.
    Welcome, everyone. I do note that a quorum is present.
    I note for the Subcommittee that Mr. Courtney of 
Connecticut and Mr. Mrvan of Indiana are permitted to 
participate in the hearing today with the understanding that 
their questions will come only after all Members of the 
Subcommittee on both sides of the aisle who are present have 
had an opportunity to question the witnesses.
    The Subcommittee is meeting today to hear testimony on 
strengthening the safety net for injured workers.
    This is an entirely remote hearing, and as such, the 
Committee's hearing room is officially closed.
    All microphones will be kept muted as a general rule to 
avoid unnecessary background noise. Members and witnesses will 
be responsible for unmuting themselves when they are recognized 
to speak or when they wish to seek recognition.
    If a Member or a witness experiences technical difficulties 
during the hearing, please stay connected on the platform and 
make sure that you are muted and use your phone to immediately 
call the Committee's IT director whose number was provided in 
advance.
    Should the Chair experience technical difficulty or need to 
step away, another majority Member is hereby authorized to 
assume the gavel in the Chair's absence.
    In order to ensure that the Committee's five-minute rule is 
adhered to, staff will be keeping track of time using the 
Committee's digital timer which appears on its own thumbnail 
picture. Members and witnesses are asked to wrap up promptly 
when their time has expired.
    Pursuant to Committee Rule 8(c), opening statements are 
limited to the Chair and the Ranking Member. I recognize myself 
now for the purpose of making an opening statement.
    Good afternoon again. Today's hearing is an opportunity to 
discuss how to strengthen workers' compensation programs which 
play an essential role in assisting workers disabled or fallen 
ill from their job.
    When Americans are hurt on the job, workers' compensation 
programs, whether at the Federal or State level, provide a 
critical safety net. That is, if the system works as it is 
intended.
    And as we will hear from Director Chris Godfrey, the Office 
of Workers' Compensation Programs, or the OWCP, is responsible 
for determining eligibility for Federal workers' compensation 
for four groups of workers: Federal workers, coal miners with 
black lung disease, longshore and harbor workers, and workers 
employed in the nuclear weapons complex.
    OWCP's mission is to ensure that these workers receive the 
benefits they deserve if they are made ill or disabled from a 
covered workplace injury or illness.
    Today, we will evaluate three major challenges facing 
various workers' compensation programs which are having 
significant consequences for workers, families, and taxpayers.
    First, workers made ill from toxic substances face nearly 
insurmountable burdens of proof. For example, firefighters are 
routinely exposed to hazards such as toxic smoke inhalation. As 
a result, they are at an increased risk of being diagnosed with 
lung cancer and other diseases compared to the general 
population.
    Laws in 48 States cover local and State firefighters for 
work-related diseases, but when Federal firefighters apply for 
Federal Employees Compensation Act, or FECA, benefits, they are 
faced with a steep burden of proof. FECA needs to better meet 
the needs of Federal firefighters.
    This pandemic has shown us again and again that too many 
State workers' compensation programs fail to support frontline 
workers who clocked in through the worst of the pandemic and 
contracted COVID-19.
    And while some States made workers' compensation automatic 
for essential workers such as nurses and law enforcement, many 
other groups --such as meatpacking workers--were left in a wide 
swath of States with an impossible battle to prove that they 
contracted COVID at work.
    Thankfully, through the American Rescue Plan Act, Congress 
eased the burden of proof for frontline Federal workers by 
providing automatic eligibility for FECA benefits for those who 
contracted COVID and were in contact with patients or the 
public.
    However, maritime and longshore workers covered under the 
Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act still face a 
steep burden of proof to establish that their COVID-19 cases 
are work-related.
    The second challenge is that States are slashing workers' 
compensation benefits. Instead of maintaining adequate benefit 
levels under State workers' compensation programs, many States 
are cutting benefits as part of a race to the bottom.
    This vicious cycle of cuts in benefits increasingly pushes 
workers with disabilities out of State workers' compensation 
coverage and shifts the cost of workplace injury to Federal 
programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security 
Disability Insurance.
    A 2015 Department of Labor report warned that because many 
workers with disabilities do not have access to adequate 
benefits, too many working people are at great risk of falling 
into poverty due to disabling workplace injuries.
    The third challenge is that coal operators have taken 
advantage of weak Federal oversight of a key part of the black 
lung program, which has resulted in a massive shift of their 
financial obligations for black lung benefits to taxpayers.
    As the Government Accountability Office has documented, 
OWCP failed over many years to ensure that coal companies, 
which are permitted to self-insure for black lung compensation, 
are setting aside sufficient collateral to pay black lung 
benefits in the event of bankruptcy.
    As a result, coal operators have shifted an estimated $1 
billion of their black lung liabilities onto taxpayers and 
drove the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund even deeper into the 
red.
    As I previously noted in this Subcommittee's February 2020 
hearing, ``This fleecing of the trust fund and taxpayers has 
occurred under DOL's nose, despite the Department's power to 
prevent it . . . The winners are the coal operators and their 
Wall Street creditors. The losers are the American taxpayers.''
    I look forward to hearing about OWCP's work to address the 
deficiencies in the black lung program that it inherited. I 
also look forward to hearing about new initiatives that OWCP 
under the Biden administration, including plans to strengthen 
its oversight of State workers' compensation programs.
    Finally, this hearing will allow us to begin a conversation 
about legislative solutions and how they can help modernize 
worker compensation programs.
    First, the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act would provide 
that Federal firefighters who are diagnosed with certain long-
term illnesses would receive a presumption that their illness 
is deemed work-related under FECA. We need to reform FECA so 
that it is better positioned to help some of our Nation's most 
heroic public servants.
    Second, the Longshore and Harbor Workers' COVID-19 
Compensation Act would establish a presumption that maritime 
workers who were diagnosed with COVID-19 received it at their 
place of work and ease eligibility for disability compensation 
and medical benefits. The House has passed this three times in 
the past 2 years, but it has withered and died in the Senate 
each time.
    Third, the Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act would help 
coal miners with disabilities access legal representation, 
improve access to evidence, adjust benefits for inflation, and 
reduce the backlog of claims.
    And finally, the Improving Access to Workers' Compensation 
for Injured Federal Workers Act would expand the number of 
qualified providers who can provide medical services under 
FECA.
    [The statement of Chairwoman Adams follows:]

     Statement of Hon. Alma S. Adams, Chairwoman, Subcommittee on 
                         Workforce Protections

    Good afternoon. Today's hearing is an opportunity to discuss how to 
strengthen workers' compensation programs which play an essential role 
in assisting workers disabled or fallen ill from their job. When 
Americans are hurt on the job, workers' compensation programs--whether 
at the Federal or State level--provide a critical safety net. That is, 
if the system works as it is intended.
    As we will hear from Director Chris Godfrey, the Office of Workers' 
Compensation Programs, or the O-W-C-P, is responsible for determining 
eligibility for Federal workers' compensation for four groups of 
workers: Federal workers, coal miners with black lung disease, 
longshore and harbor workers, and workers employed in the nuclear 
weapons complex. OWCP's mission is to ensure that these workers receive 
the benefits they deserve if they are made ill or disabled from a 
covered workplace injury or illness.
    Today, we will evaluate three major challenges facing various 
workers' compensation programs, which are having significant 
consequences for workers, families, and taxpayers.
    First, workers made ill from toxic substances face nearly 
insurmountable burdens of proof.
    For example, firefighters are routinely exposed to hazards such as 
toxic smoke inhalation. As a result, they are at an increased risk of 
being diagnosed with lung cancer and other diseases compared to the 
general population. Laws in 48 states cover local and State 
firefighters for work-related diseases, but when Federal firefighters 
apply for Federal Employees Compensation Act (or FECA) benefits, they 
are faced with a steep burden of proof. FECA needs to better meet the 
needs of Federal firefighters.
    The pandemic has shown us again, and again that too many State 
workers' compensation programs failed to support frontline workers who 
clocked-in throughout the worst of the pandemic and contracted COVID-
19. While some states made workers' compensation automatic for 
essential workers such as nurses and law enforcement, many other 
groups--such as meatpacking workers--were left in a wide swath of 
states with an impossible battle to prove that they contracted COVID at 
work. Thankfully, through the American Rescue Plan Act, Congress eased 
the burden of proof for frontline Federal workers, by providing 
automatic eligibility for FECA benefits for those who contracted COVID 
and were in contact with patients or the public. However, maritime and 
longshore workers covered under the Longshore and Harbor Workers 
Compensation Act still face a steep burden of proof to establish that 
their COVID-19 cases are work related.
    The second challenge is that states are slashing workers' 
compensation benefits.
    Instead of maintaining adequate benefit levels under State workers' 
compensation programs, many states are cutting benefits as part of a 
race-to-the-bottom. This vicious cycle of cuts in benefits increasingly 
pushes workers with disabilities out of State workers' compensation 
coverage and shifts the cost of workplace injury to Federal programs 
including Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security Disability Insurance. 
A 2015 Department of Labor report warned that because many workers with 
disabilities do not have access to adequate benefits, too many working 
people are at great risk of falling into poverty due to disabling 
workplace injuries.
    The third challenge is that coal operators have taken advantage of 
weak Federal oversight of a key part of the black lung program, which 
has resulted in a massive shift of their financial obligations for 
black lung benefits to taxpayers.
    As the Government Accountability Office has documented, OWCP failed 
over many years to ensure that coal companies--which are permitted to 
self-insure for black lung compensation--are setting aside sufficient 
collateral to pay black lung benefits in the event of bankruptcy. As a 
result, coal operators have shifted an estimated $1 billion of their 
black lung liabilities onto taxpayers and drove the Black Lung 
Disability Trust Fund even deeper into the red.
    As I previously noted in this Subcommittee's February 2020 hearing: 
``This fleecing of the Trust Fund and taxpayers has occurred under 
DOL's nose despite the Department's power to prevent it.. The winners 
are the coal operators and their Wall Street creditors. The losers are 
the American taxpayers.''
    I look forward to hearing about OWCP's work to address the 
deficiencies in the black lung program that it inherited.
    I also look forward to hearing about new initiatives that OWCP 
under the Biden administration, including plans to strengthen its 
oversight of State workers' compensation programs.
    Finally, this hearing will allow us to begin a conversation about 
legislative solutions and how they can help modernize worker 
compensation programs:

    1. First, the Federal Fighters Fairness Act would provide that 
        Federal firefighters, who are diagnosed with certain long-term 
        illnesses, would receive a presumption that their illness is 
        deemed work-related under FECA. We need to reform FECA so that 
        it is better positioned to help some of our Nation's most 
        heroic public servants.

    2. Second, the Longshore and Harbor Workers' COVID-19 Compensation 
        Act would establish a presumption that maritime workers who 
        were diagnosed with COVID-19 received it at their place of work 
        and ease eligibility for disability compensation and medical 
        benefits. The House has passed this three times in the past 2 
        years, but it has withered and died in the Senate each time.

    3. Third, the Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act would help coal 
        miners with disabilities access legal representation, improve 
        access to evidence, adjust benefits for inflation, and reduce 
        the backlog of claims.

    4. And finally, the Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for 
        Injured Federal Workers Act would expand the number of 
        qualified providers who can provide medical services under 
        FECA.

    Thank you to our witnesses for joining us today.
    I now yield to the distinguished Ranking Member of the 
Subcommittee, Mr. Keller.
                                 ______
                                 
    Chairwoman Adams. Thank you to our witnesses for joining us 
today.
    Is the Ranking Member here yet?
    I am sorry? Is the Ranking Member here? Is Mr. Keller here?
    Staff. Chair Adams, I can only confirm that the Ranking 
Member's ID profile is still connected to the platform, but I 
cannot confirm activity from the profile.
    Chairwoman Adams. OK. Well, let me just move on then. Other 
Members, without objection, who wish to insert written 
statements into the record may do so by submitting them to the 
Committee Clerk electronically in Microsoft Word format by 5 
p.m. on December 16, 2021.
    I think I will have to recognize the Ranking Member when he 
gets here so we can move on.
    I am going to introduce the witness now for the first 
panel. Congressman Salud Carbajal has represented the 24th 
congressional District in California since 2017.
    Representative Carbajal is testifying in support of his 
bill, H.R. 2499, the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of 2021, 
which would improve the ability of Federal firefighters to 
secure workers' compensation benefits under the Federal 
Employees Compensation Act, or FECA, if they develop certain 
illnesses associated with their work.
    We appreciate Congressman Carbajal for participating today.
    Look forward to your testimony, sir. Your written statement 
will appear in full in the hearing record, and you are asked to 
limit your oral presentation to a five minute summary.
    As the first panel is a Member panel, there will be no 
questions of the witnesses, and we will move immediately to the 
second panel at the conclusion of the testimony unless, of 
course, the Ranking Member gets in and we will allow him to 
give his opening statement.
    The witness is aware of his responsibility to provide 
accurate information to this Subcommittee, and therefore we 
will proceed with the testimony.
    Congressman Carbajal, you are recognized for five minutes.

          STATEMENT OF THE HON. SALUD O. CARBAJAL, A 
         REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF 
                           CALIFORNIA

    Mr. Carbajal. Thank you, Chairwoman Adams, Ranking Member 
Keller, and Members of the Workforce Protection Subcommittee. 
Thank you for the opportunity today to testify in support of my 
bipartisan legislation, H.R. 2499, the Federal Firefighters 
Fairness Act, that I have introduced with Representatives 
Bacon, Takano, and Fitzpatrick.
    This Congress marks the third time I have introduced this 
legislation since I was elected to represent the Central Coast 
of California in 2016.
    In all these years, this is the first time this critical 
bill has received a hearing, and for that, I want to thank and 
acknowledge the leadership of Chairwoman Adams, who is bringing 
it before Members of the Workforce Protection Subcommittee for 
consideration.
    The Federal Firefighters Fairness Act ensures Federal 
firefighters receive the same access to disability and 
retirement benefits as their peers who are State, county, and 
municipal firefighters, and who often fight the same exact 
fires.
    Like most firefighters in the United States, it would 
create the same presumption that Federal firefighters who 
become disabled by serious diseases, like certain cancers, lung 
disease, heart disease, and infectious diseases, contracted the 
illness on the job.
    Under the current Federal law, Federal firefighters are 
required to precisely identify an incident or exposure that 
caused the disease for it to be considered job-related. The 
burden of proving that one specific incident or exposure to a 
disease is extremely difficult for firefighters to meet because 
they work in so many environments and conditions.
    Fighting fires is hard and dangerous work. In one study 
conducted by Harvard University, scientists measured air 
contaminant levels at more than 200 structural fires. Benzene, 
a chemical linked to many cancers, was found in 181 out of 197 
samples from fire scenes.
    Multiple studies have shown that there are over 100 
chemicals that can be in smoke, showing just how difficult it 
can be for Federal firefighters to prove an illness they 
contracted was caused by one specific chemical or instance.
    Most State, local, and municipal firefighters already 
benefit from something called a ``presumptive illness'' law. 
These laws link a particular occupation with certain diseases 
or conditions that have been connected to their work.
    California was the first State to pass a firefighter 
presumptive illness law in 1982. Today, 49 out of 50 States 
have presumptive illness laws that cover State and local 
firefighters. Sadly, not one of these laws cover Federal 
firefighters.
    This is the gap and inequity that I hope to fix with the 
bipartisan Federal Firefighters Fairness Act, which is 
overwhelmingly supported by my colleagues, with 95 cosponsors, 
and supported by the International Association of Federal 
Firefighters, IAFF, and the American Federation of Government 
Employees, AFGE.
    Madam Chair, I request to enter into the record a letter of 
support for H.R. 2499 from the International Association of 
Firefighters.
    Chairwoman Adams. So ordered.
    Mr. Carbajal. Last month, over a thousand firefighters put 
their lives on the line to battle the Alisal Fire in my 
district on the Central Coast of California. I am so thankful 
for the Federal, State, and local firefighters, who worked 
together to put out the blaze and keep our community safe.
    All of them performed the same job, but again a reminder, 
only Federal firefighters experience a disparity in their 
health benefits.
    It is not fair that Federal firefighters are being denied 
access to benefits that their local counterparts receive, 
especially when they fight the same fires and expose themselves 
to the same risks.
    California experienced unprecedented wildfire seasons in 
2020 and 2021, and scientists are projecting that wildfires 
will continue to increase in frequency and severity.
    Now more than ever, we need to do the right thing by our 
Federal firefighters and pass this vital legislation. Our 
Federal firefighters and their families cannot continue to 
sacrifice and put themselves in harm's way to protect us all, 
only to be denied healthcare benefits simply because they 
cannot prove a work-related illness was linked to one chemical 
or incident.
    Firefighters of all types are heroes and deserve the same 
respect and benefits for the hard and necessary job they 
perform. It is high time to pass a presumptive illness law for 
our Federal firefighters and not continue to treat them as 
second-class firefighters. We must push this measure across the 
finish line.
    Thank you again for the opportunity to speak on my 
legislation, H.R. 2499, the Federal Firefighters Fairness Act. 
I yield back, Madam Chair.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Carbajal follows:]

            Prepared Statement of the Hon. Salud O. Carbajal
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


    Chairwoman Adams. Thank you. Thank you, Congressman 
Carbajal, for your testimony on this important issue.
    This concludes the first panel, and I am going to request 
that the witnesses on the second panel if you would prepare to 
turn your cameras on.
    But before I do that, let me recognize the Ranking Member 
who is with us for his opening statement.
    So, Ranking Member Keller, you are now recognized, sir.
    Mr. Keller. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.
    The hearing today takes a kitchen sink, spaghetti-on-the-
wall approach to a wide variety of Federal workers' 
compensation programs, including legislation which purports to 
solve shortcomings in many of them.
    Unfortunately, many of the proposals we will discuss today 
only add additional layers and expense to our already bloated 
and mismanaged Federal programs. For instance, the Black Lung 
Disability Trust Fund has been plagued by financial 
difficulties since it began over 40 years ago. It has been in 
debt since it was created.
    Many of the trust fund's problems stem from the Department 
of Labor's decades-long failure to provide proper oversight or 
enforcement in addition to interest accumulation on its debt.
    As a result, the trust fund's expenditures regularly exceed 
its revenue. Because of this funding shortfall, the trust fund 
borrows from the Department of Treasury's General Fund every 
year.
    In 2021, the trust fund borrowed approximately $2.3 billion 
to cover its costs. As of September 2021, total liabilities for 
the trust fund exceeded its assets by over $6 billion. This is 
both shameful and unsustainable.
    The Trump administration made great strides to correct the 
trust fund's flaws and to revamp the self-insurance process for 
coal mine operators. The Biden administration should restrain 
itself from dismissing President Trump's reforms out of hand 
and put the well-being of the program above politics.
    GAO's testimony today states that Department of Labor 
officials could not describe any anticipated changes to coal 
operators' self-insurance going forward, and Mr. Godfrey's 
testimony confirms that any reforms to the Black Lung program 
will be made public months in the future. This is unacceptable.
    In the meantime, Democrats propose papering over inept 
oversight of Federal workers' compensation programs with big 
government solutions. Democrats continually turn a blind eye to 
the real problems plaguing these programs.
    Instead of working on bipartisan legislation, like this 
Committee has historically done, Democrats are demanding more 
layers of bureaucratic red tape, wasteful spending, and 
increased control over job creators.
    The FECA program is an example of potential bipartisan 
agreement. In the 112th Congress, the Committee took steps on a 
bipartisan basis to reform FECA by introducing legislation that 
would modernize the FECA program, improve its integrity, and 
enhance its efficiency.
    We should revisit commonsense bipartisan reforms instead of 
pushing workers into broken and bloated programs.
    Unfortunately, today many of my Democrat colleagues and the 
Department of Labor are advocating four legislative changes 
that will not improve the critical programs Federal injured 
workers rely upon.
    Creating presumptions of eligibility under the Longshore 
program and FECA will only further strain Department resources, 
increase backlogs, and cause the Department to shift personnel 
and dollars from other critical programs, like programs to 
fight opioid misuse, an issue which has plagued communities in 
central and northeastern Pennsylvania, as well as across all of 
America.
    I would like to urge the Office of Workers' Compensation 
Programs, or OWCP, to focus on reforming the programs they 
currently oversee by addressing recommendations made by the 
Government Accountability Office and the Office of Inspector 
General.
    The Office of Inspector General's annual report outlines 
several significant concerns within OWCP. The Department should 
address these recommendations before moving forward with 
radical proposals to monitor State workers' compensation 
programs or haphazardly broaden benefit eligibility.
    I hope that this Committee can return to bipartisan 
discussions to ensure these programs are efficient, effective, 
and making good use of taxpayers' dollars while protecting the 
people they are designed to protect.
    I would like to thank our witnesses for being here today, 
and I look forward to hearing your testimony.
    I yield back.
    [The statement of Ranking Member Keller follows:]

    Statement of Hon. Fred Keller, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on 
                         Workforce Protections

    The hearing today takes a kitchen-sink, spaghetti-on-the-wall 
approach to a wide variety of Federal workers compensation programs, 
including legislation which purports to solve shortcomings in many of 
them. Unfortunately, many of the proposals we will discuss today only 
add additional layers and expense to already bloated and mismanaged 
Federal programs.
    For instance, the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund (BLDTF) has been 
plagued by financial difficulties since it began over 40 years ago. It 
has been in debt since it was created. Many of the Trust Fund's 
problems stem from the Department of Labor's (DOL) decades-long failure 
to provide proper oversight or enforcement in addition to interest 
accumulation on its debt.
    As a result, the Trust Fund's expenditures regularly exceed its 
revenue. Because of this funding shortfall, the Trust Fund borrows from 
the Department of the Treasury's general fund every year. In 2021, the 
Trust Fund borrowed approximately $2.3 billion to cover its costs. As 
of September 2021, total liabilities of the Trust Fund exceeded its 
assets by over $6 billion. This is both shameful and unsustainable.
    The Trump administration made great strides to correct the Trust 
Fund's flaws and to revamp the self-insurance process for coal mine 
operators. The Biden administration should restrain itself from 
dismissing President Trump's reforms out of hand and put the well-being 
of the program above politics. Government Accountability Office's 
testimony today states that `DOL officials could not describe any 
anticipated changes to coal operator self-insurance going forward' and 
Mr. Godfrey's testimony confirms that any reforms to the Black Lung 
Program will be made public months in the future. This is unacceptable.
    In the meantime, Democrats propose papering over inept oversight of 
Federal workers' compensation programs with big government solutions. 
Democrats continuously turn a blind eye to the real problems plaguing 
these programs. Instead of working on bipartisan legislation, like this 
Committee has historically done, Democrats are demanding more layers of 
bureaucratic red tape, wasteful spending, and increased control over 
job creators.
    The Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) program is an 
example of potential bipartisan agreement. In the 112th Congress, the 
Committee took steps, on a bipartisan basis, to reform FECA by 
introducing legislation that would modernize the FECA program, improve 
its integrity, and enhance its efficiency. We should revisit 
commonsense bipartisan reforms instead of pushing workers into broken 
and bloated programs.
    Unfortunately, today many of my Democrat colleagues and the DOL are 
advocating for legislative changes that will not improve the critical 
programs Federal injured workers rely upon. Creating presumptions of 
eligibility under the Longshore program and FECA will only further 
strain Department resources, increase backlogs, and cause the 
Department to shift personnel and dollars from other critical programs, 
like programs to fight opioid misuse, an issue which has plagued 
communities in central and northeastern Pennsylvania, among others.
    I would like to urge the Office of Workers Compensation Programs 
(OWCP) to focus on reforming the programs they currently oversee by 
addressing recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office 
and the
    Office of Inspector General. The Office of Inspector General's 
annual report outlined several significant concerns within OWCP. The 
Department should address these recommendations before moving forward 
with radical proposals to monitor State workers' compensation programs, 
or haphazardly broadening benefit eligibility.
    I hope that this Committee can return to bipartisan discussions to 
ensure these programs are efficient and effective and are making good 
use of the taxpayers' dollars.
                                 ______
                                 
    Chairwoman Adams. Thank you. Thank you to the Ranking 
Member. Thank you very much for your statement.
    We are going to move now to the second panel. I want to 
make a request that the witnesses on this panel please turn 
your cameras on at this time, mute your microphones unless you 
are speaking.
    I will now introduce the witnesses for the second panel.
    Our first witness is Christopher Godfrey, Director of the 
U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation 
Programs.
    Mr. Godfrey is responsible for overseeing the Department's 
work processing tens of thousands of claims from Federal 
employees, nuclear weapons complex workers, coal miners, 
maritime workers, and others, and the payment of billions of 
dollars in benefits.
    He previously served as the Chief Judge and Chairman of the 
Employees' Compensation Appeals Board, and before that, he 
served 8 years as Iowa's Workers' Compensation Commissioner.
    Our second witness is Thomas Costa, who serves as Director 
of Education, Workforce, and Income Security at the U.S. 
Government Accountability Office.
    With degrees from George Washington University and the 
University of Connecticut, Mr. Costa has been with GAO since 
2005, and his work has included labor-related issues as well as 
State Department management and diplomatic security.
    To our witnesses, thank you so much for participating 
today. We look forward to your testimony. Your written 
statement will appear in full in the hearing record, and you 
are asked to limit your oral presentation to a five minute 
summary. After your presentation, we will move to Member 
questions.
    The witnesses are aware of their responsibility to provide 
accurate information to the Subcommittee, and therefore we will 
proceed with your testimony.
    I will first recognize Mr. Godfrey.
    Mr. Godfrey, you are recognized for five minutes, sir.

 STATEMENT OF MR. CHRISTOPHER J. GODFREY, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF 
              WORKERS' COMPENSATION PROGRAMS, U.S.
                      DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

    Mr. Godfrey. Thank you.
    Chair Adams, Ranking Member Keller, and Members of the 
Workforce Protection Subcommittee, and Mr. Costa and other GAO 
participants, I am grateful for the opportunity to speak with 
you today about strengthening the safety net for injured 
workers.
    Every day the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs 
touches the lives of thousands of workers and families, 
providing a safety net in their times of need.
    The FECA, Longshore, Black Lung, and Energy programs have 
the unifying mission to protect the interest of workers who 
become injured or ill on the job, ensuring fair claim 
adjudication and prompt entitlement payments.
    I am incredibly proud of what OWCP has accomplished during 
the first 10 months of this administration, and I want to share 
with you a few of our noteworthy accomplishments.
    First, following the attack on the U.S. Capitol Building on 
January 6th, the FECA program established a special unit to 
ensure prompt and consistent handling of claims filed by 
Federal law enforcement officers and other first responders who 
suffered traumatic injuries on that date.
    After President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act 
into law in March, OWCP implemented its provisions, making it 
easier for Federal workers to file COVID-related workers' 
compensation claims under FECA.
    To date, OWCP has processed over 22,000 COVID claims from 
Federal workers, and less than 1 percent of those claims remain 
unadjudicated.
    Also, with ARPA funding, OWCP hired over 170 new claims 
examiners, strengthening our historically neglected FECA 
workforce.
    OWCP has adapted to the pandemic by transitioning to a 100 
percent telework posture.
    Our Energy program has expanded telehealth options, 
digitized paper case files, and offered online outreach and 
educational events.
    Our black lung program has moved to a fully digital claims 
environment and eliminated millions of pages of paper files.
    OWCP is currently focused on initiatives to strengthen our 
service delivery for injured workers. In the FECA program, a 
pharmacy benefits management service, known as a PBM, will lead 
to lower prescription costs and create additional drug safety 
controls, including increased opioid safeguards which are so 
important.
    We plan during this Fiscal Year to also move forward with a 
PBM in our black lung and energy programs.
    We are also working to combine medical bill processing with 
physician network services to increase the number of physicians 
available to provide treatment to our claimants.
    In line with President Biden's emphasis on diversity, 
equity, inclusion, and accessibility, OWCP has taken several 
steps, such as outreach to underserved communities, like the 
Navajo Nation, and updated our recruitment efforts to obtain a 
more diverse talent pool for job openings.
    Other accomplishments that we have made are noted in my 
written testimony.
    OWCP has also sought to improve the handling of claims for 
Federal firefighters by working with NIOSH to create an 
improved process to address the unique challenges of developing 
those delayed onset occupational illness claims.
    Recently, in collaboration with the Departments of Defense, 
State, and the White House National Security Council, OWCP 
developed guidance on processing claims for anomalous health 
incidents.
    Finally, OWCP has explored the possibility of recommencing 
publication of its annual report on workers' compensation 
systems, and those would be consistent with DOL reports from 
1980 through 2004.
    Turning now to GAO's 2020 report on black lung self-
insurance programs, I want to address two key recommendations 
concerning OWCP's oversight responsibilities.
    First, they recommended that OWCP should develop and 
implement procedures for self-insurance renewals, and second, 
that OWCP should develop an appeals process for self-insured 
coal mine operators to utilize when they disagree with 
determinations concerning authorization or the amount of 
collateralization required to be self-insured.
    Based on these recommendations, over the past 10 months 
OWCP has performed a comprehensive review of the existing self-
insurance structure and the impact of the changes made to self-
insurance process by the previous administration.
    That detailed review is complete, and the self-insurance 
has been included on the DOL regulatory agenda. And we plan to 
move forward with an NPRM in the coming months.
    Seven coal mine operators have appealed self-insurance 
authorization decisions made by OWCP during the previous 
administration. We are currently in the process of reviewing 
those appeals.
    Bottom line is this, OWCP is committed to doing everything 
that we can to protect the trust fund against further 
liabilities from under-secured self-insured operators, through 
a fair, transparent, and efficient process.
    In the past 10 months, OWCP has handled emerging issues 
such as COVID-19 and the Capitol attack and made progress on 
initiatives including the PBM and equity efforts, while still 
charting a path toward resolution of longstanding concerns such 
as self-insurance in the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund.
    I am honored to be able to lead OWCP as we tackle these 
challenges, and thank you again for the opportunity to testify 
today to discuss how OWCP is working to strengthen the safety 
net for injured and ill workers.
    I look forward to your questions. Thank you.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Godfrey follows:]

              Prepared Statement of Christopher J. Godfrey
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


    Chairwoman Adams. And thank you, Mr. Godfrey.
    We will now hear from Mr. Costa.
    Mr. Costa, you are recognized for five minutes.

          STATEMENT OF MR. THOMAS M. COSTA, DIRECTOR, 
          EDUCATION, WORKFORCE, AND INCOME SECURITY, 
                GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

    Mr. Costa. Thank you, Chairwoman Adams, Ranking Member 
Keller, Chairman Scott, Ranking Member Foxx, and Members of the 
Subcommittee.
    I am pleased to be here today to discuss, one, the serious 
financial challenges facing the Black Lung Disability Trust 
Fund; two, GAO's prior recommendations concerning the 
Department of Labor's limited oversight of coal mine operator 
self-insurance; and three, updated actions DOL has taken to 
improve oversight of self-insurance and implement our 
recommendations.
    My testimony is based primarily on prior GAO reports and 
updated information provided by DOL in November.
    The Black Lung Benefits Program provides assistance to coal 
miners who are disabled due to black lung disease. Over 24,000 
beneficiaries received benefits in Fiscal Year 2021.
    Black lung benefits are generally paid by liable coal mine 
operators. Operators may purchase commercial insurance or self-
insure to cover benefits.
    The Federal Government's Black Lung Disability Trust Fund 
pays when no responsible mine operator can be identified or the 
liable mine operator doesn't pay, such as through a bankruptcy.
    This brings me to my three discussion points.
    First, the trust fund faces serious financial challenges 
with expenditures consistently exceeding revenue, especially 
its debt and interest payments. Consequently, the trust fund 
has borrowed from the Treasury almost every year since 1979.
    In Fiscal Year 2021, the trust fund had to borrow $2.3 
billion to cover its expenses, and based on our previous 
projections, the trust fund's debt could exceed $15 billion by 
2050.
    The fund's primary source of revenue is a coal tax that has 
changed little since 1986 and is set to decline next year.
    Compounding these challenges, coal production has declined, 
reducing revenue, and additional coal operator bankruptcies 
have further strained the trust fund.
    We previously reported that bankruptcies between 2014 and 
2016 of self-insured operators led to the transfer of $865 
million in benefit responsibility to the trust fund. Since 
then, at least five more self-insured operators have filed for 
bankruptcy.
    Making things worse, there has been a resurgence in the 
number of miners contracting the most severe form of black 
lung, likely leading to increased future liabilities.
    On to my second point. In response to DOL's limited 
oversight of coal mine operator insurance, we recommended that 
DOL develop procedures for self-insurance renewal that clarify 
how long an operator is authorized to self-insure, as well as 
when self-insurance authority would not be renewed, and that 
they develop procedures for self-insured operator appeals.
    And now for my third point. When we testified in February 
2020, we noted DOL had begun implementing a new process for 
self-insurance that if implemented effectively might have 
helped address past deficiencies in our recommendations.
    That didn't happen. Instead, DOL suspended and then 
rescinded its efforts. In February 2020, DOL sent letters to 14 
self-insured operators authorizing most to self-insure for 1 
year if they provided about $251 million in total collateral.
    Seven complied. Five others appealed and did not provide 
the collateral. As a result, DOL didn't secure about $186 
million in collateral from those operators.
    DOL told the remaining two operators, both of whom 
appealed, that they no longer qualified to self-insure and must 
obtain commercial insurance.
    In addition to the 14 operators DOL contacted, there are 
three additional self-insured operators. DOL didn't reassess 
the collateral secured by one, because DOL had done so in 2019. 
The other two, however, didn't provide actuarial estimates that 
DOL could use to assess the proper amount of collateral.
    DOL said their ability to resolve appeals was hindered by 
the COVID-19 pandemic, as they and coal operators adjusted to 
different working conditions and experienced challenges in 
processing documentation. As a result, DOL suspended its review 
of operator appeals.
    In December 2020, after a 5-year effort, DOL issued a 
preliminary bulletin with updated guidelines for coal operator 
self-insurance. However, in February, DOL rescinded that 
bulletin pending review.
    As of November, DOL had not taken action on the pending 
appeals or reauthorized operators to continue self-insuring 
after their approvals to do so had expired.
    However, as Director Godfrey just noted, DOL noted they 
recently completed their review of the guidelines and expect to 
go through a rulemaking process in the coming months. It is 
unclear how long this process might take.
    In summary, the future financial situation facing the trust 
fund has worsened over the last 2 years, during which DOL did 
little to forestall this decline.
    While DOL collected some additional collateral from several 
self-insured operators, half the operators haven't secured the 
support they will owe their disabled miners.
    Given the dire situation facing the trust fund, we 
reiterate the need for DOL to take action and address our 
previous recommendations.
    This completes my prepared statement. I look forward to 
your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Costa follows:]

                 Prepared Statement of Thomas M. Costa
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


    Chairwoman Adams. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. 
Thank you to both of our witnesses.
    Under Rule 9(a), we will now question the witnesses of this 
panel under the five-minute rule. I am going to recognize 
myself as Chair for five minutes.
    Nearly 2 years ago, the GAO testified before the 
Subcommittee that nearly $1 billion in liabilities were 
transferred to the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund by bankrupt 
coal operators that had been allowed by DOL to self-insure with 
only a minuscule amount of collateral. It happened because DOL 
failed to hold these operators accountable.
    Coinciding with the hearing in February 2020, DOL wrote 
more than a dozen operators advising that they must post nearly 
$250 million in collateral in order to continue self-insuring.
    Seven have appealed, but almost 2 years later your agency 
has not ruled on those appeals. These operators still have not 
posted that increased collateral, leaving taxpayers at risk.
    So Mr. Godfrey, how long does the DOL expect the rulemaking 
process regarding self-insurance to take?
    Mr. Godfrey. Thank you for that question.
    Where we are at in terms of dealing with the self-insurance 
review is that we are at a place where we have studied this 
issue, we have worked through the GAO studies, not only from 
2020 but also the 2018 GAO study that dealt with the concerns 
to the levels of debt within the Black Lung Disability Trust 
Fund.
    And what we have done is found that there are ways that we 
can work on the minimum improvements that were made during the 
last administration, which did in some respects address those 
changes that were recommended through the GAO.
    I think that we can do better, I think we can do it more 
efficiently, and we can do it through a regulation. A 
regulation will be one that will allow for public comment. And 
as we go forward, we will still be working on a dual track with 
the prior work of the prior administration.
    Chairwoman Adams. OK. So do you have a timeframe? Do you 
have a schedule? That was really my question. So you didn't 
sound like you had one of those, that you don't have a 
timeframe of the things that you needed to do.
    Let me move on.
    Mr. Godfrey, what is the magnitude of cost shifted into 
Federal safety net programs because of insufficient State 
workers' compensation programs?
    Mr. Godfrey. Sure. And if I could first clarify, the notice 
of proposed rulemaking is on our regulatory agenda, we have 
begun work on that process, and it is simply the time it takes 
to promulgate that rule, receive comments, and then go into 
final rule.
    In terms of the second question that you have asked, it is 
difficult to quantify the amount of costs that have been 
shifted to various programs from reductions after reductions in 
State-level workers' compensation systems. That is difficult 
for us within OWCP to fully understand.
    What we do see is there are areas, like the Black Lung 
program within OWCP, that can be impacted. We also see the VA, 
Medicare, Social Security as also being impacted.
    I think one of the things that we can see is when we look 
at the 19 essential functions from the 1972 commission, if we 
can go back to doing an annual State report, as they did from 
1980 to 2004, I think we can start to actualize what that 
transfer is.
    Chairwoman Adams. OK. Let me get one more question in here.
    So should the Federal Government set minimum standards so 
that the States will stop shifting costs onto the taxpayer?
    Mr. Godfrey. The Department of Labor has not taken a 
position on whether or not there should be minimum standards.
    Chairwoman Adams. OK.
    Mr. Godfrey. I think what we can look at, though, is the 19 
essential recommendations from the 1972 commission.
    Chairwoman Adams. OK. Quickly, Mr. Costa, does this 
approach leave taxpayers at risk in the event of bankruptcy?
    Mr. Costa. Yes, Madam Chair, it does. As long as the 
Department is not securing the collateral that it has requested 
and it is not managing the appeals process, if another self-
insured coal operator goes bankrupt, there is a good likelihood 
that some of that liability will be transferred to the Black 
Lung Disability Trust Fund.
    Chairwoman Adams. OK. I have only got like 15 seconds.
    So how many companies right now are still self-insuring 
without current authorization by DOL? Do you know?
    Mr. Costa. Sixteen.
    Chairwoman Adams. OK. All right. Great.
    Well, I am going to adhere to what we are asking everybody 
to do, and I am going to yield back my time. And I am going to 
now recognize the Ranking Member for five minutes for his 
questions.
    Mr. Keller. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Mr. Costa, in February 2020, Julia Hearthway, who was at 
that time the Director of the Office of Workers' Compensation 
Programs, testified before this Committee on the actions that 
OWCP was already taking to address shortcomings in the Black 
Lung Benefits Program identified by the GAO consistent with 
your February 2020 recommendations.
    OWCP subsequently published a bulletin on December 7, 2020, 
outlining new self-insurance process guidelines.
    In your opinion, did the Trump administration take 
meaningful action to implement GAO's recommendations? And were 
these steps consistent with those recommendations?
    Mr. Costa. Thank you, Ranking Member Keller.
    Yes, it appeared as though the bulletin guidelines were 
going to be addressing our recommendations. It remained to be 
seen, if they had been implemented, whether or not they would 
have fully addressed those recommendations. And that is one 
step that needs to occur in order to help ensure the solvency 
of the trust fund.
    Mr. Keller. So you say if they would have been implemented. 
So they weren't implemented by the Trump administration, or was 
that because of actions on the Biden administration when they 
withdrew from the Trump administration's bulletin?
    Mr. Costa. So the guidelines were issued in December, at 
the very end of the Trump administration, and they were 
rescinded by the Biden administration in February of this year.
    Mr. Keller. Was there any rationale from the Biden 
administration why they rescinded those?
    Mr. Costa. I would have to defer to Director Godfrey for 
that, sir.
    Mr. Keller. Director Godfrey, are you aware of the 
rationale behind?
    Mr. Godfrey. Yes, I am. The rationale was, in February 
2020, when Director Hearthway testified before this 
Subcommittee, it was noted that it would be within 90 days that 
the appeals would be handled. That did not occur.
    When the bulletin was issued in either December or January 
2021, that had been over 11 months since it was said that it 
would be 90 days to resolve that matter. It was in that last 
few weeks of the administration that it was finally published 
as a bulletin.
    I felt that as I came in, and because of the changes in the 
executive order relating to the use of bulletins, that it would 
be best to take under consideration what the prior 
administration has done but not be bound by it in an ongoing 
manner, to see if we could find efficiencies and ways to do it 
better.
    Obviously, if it took 11 months to perform those appeals 
under the last administration, we need to find efficiencies and 
ways to do it much, much quicker.
    Mr. Keller. I can understand the finding efficiencies and 
ways to do it much more quickly, but delaying these things that 
were recommended be done is certainly not helping the people 
that are going to benefit from making sure that their system is 
solvent. And I think it is, quite frankly, irresponsible to do 
that without a plan.
    So I guess I would just look at the rest of the things. 
And, Mr. Costa, what actions, if any, has the Biden 
administration taken to implement GAO's recommendations and to 
increase solvency of the Black Lung Trust Fund?
    Mr. Costa. Sir, as I testified, the current administration 
has been studying what the previous administration recommended. 
But as far as I know, there have not been any concrete steps 
taken thus far.
    Director Godfrey just testified that they finished their 
review and are going to be moving forward in the coming months 
with some new measures. But I am not sure how those measures 
will impact the trust fund at this point.
    Mr. Keller. Well, we had recommendations that the Trump 
administration had said would help --your recommendations that 
the Trump administration had implemented and would have made 
the fund more solvent, correct, under your estimation?
    Mr. Costa. Yes, sir. We believe that if recommendations had 
been implemented that it would have helped the trust fund. It 
is only one of the major things that needs to be done to 
address the trust fund's solvency issues, however.
    Mr. Keller. Yes. But understanding that would have been --
that was done in February, which was almost 10 months ago.
    Mr. Costa. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Keller. Meaning that we lost all that time.
    In your opinion, losing that time where we could have 
worked toward solvency, does that put the trust fund more at 
risk than it would have been?
    Mr. Costa. Yes.
    Mr. Keller. OK.
    Mr. Godfrey, GAO testified today that the changes made by 
the Trump administration to reform the Black Lung program and 
overhaul DOL's oversight of self-insured coal mine operations 
were a positive step toward implementing the GAO's 2020 
recommendations and improving the solvency of Black Lung --we 
just heard about that --and the Disability Trust Fund. Of 
course, I know we have talked about it. We withdrew from those.
    Can you tell us what is going to happen? We have put these 
on hold for whatever reason and are not getting that, and we 
don't really --just because it took that many months doesn't 
mean we shouldn't be getting the benefit from it.
    But what do you think --or what reforms do you think are 
going to happen that are going to make up the difference of 
this? Are you going to do anything differently? Or what did you 
find?
    Mr. Godfrey. Thank you for that question.
    I would note that although there were letters that went out 
in February 2020, for the remainder of the administration there 
was no action taken.
    Chairwoman Adams. The gentleman's time is up.
    Mr. Keller. I would just like to say, we can try and place 
blame wherever we want. The point was, there was action taken, 
and this administration, by not taking advantage of being able 
to make this fund more solvent, can try and make all the 
excuses they want, but they have been in charge now for nearly 
10 months.
    Chairwoman Adams. The gentleman's time is up.
    Mr. Keller. And they need to do something if they want to 
be responsible to fixing this for the people that rely on these 
benefits.
    So I would suggest that this Committee hold oversight that 
we should hold and make sure that we protect the people.
    Chairwoman Adams. Mr. Keller, your time is up, sir. We are 
way over time on this. So we have to move on. Thank you.
    We are going to hear now from the gentleman from Virginia, 
the Chair of the Education and Labor Committee.
    Mr. Scott, you are recognized for five minutes, sir.
    Mr. Scott. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. And I 
apologize for being in a phone booth. We are back and forth 
from votes, and I have a meeting coming up fairly soon.
    Mr. Godfrey, in your written testimony you mention 
challenges with claims for firefighters. Does Mr. Carbajal's 
bill address those challenges?
    Mr. Godfrey. Yes. Thank you for that question.
    That piece of legislation is a positive piece of 
legislation that does address issues related to Federal 
firefighters, especially with those very difficult-to-prove 
long-term occupational disease claims due to exposures.
    Prior to that legislation moving forward, I have already 
taken steps, however, to work directly with NIOSH to make sure 
that we can work to get those types of claims handled in a very 
expeditious and a very fair and consistent manner. We have 
reached out to the firefighter unions. We have done significant 
discussions with NIOSH.
    And I believe that with the special claims handling unit 
that we are going to put in place, that we will have a system 
that will help those individuals that have Federal firefighter 
claims that are based on occupational exposures have a much 
better outcome in terms of those cases, because we are going to 
be assisting with the development of that medical evidence and 
the factual evidence, but also working with NIOSH to make sure 
that we are continuing to identify each and every type of 
illness that would fall within this type of definition.
    Mr. Scott. Thank you.
    And we had the presumption for Federal and postal workers. 
Out of fairness, should longshoremen be entitled to the same 
kind of presumption that we extended to those other workers?
    Mr. Godfrey. I am unaware that the administration has taken 
a position on that. I do know that we did provide technical 
assistance during the Rescue Plan Act on that specific 
provision.
    Mr. Scott. Well, if you could get back to us on extending 
this same presumption to longshore and harbor workers, we would 
appreciate it.
    Are you familiar with the disgraceful fraud that was going 
on in the FECA program with compounded drugs?
    Mr. Godfrey. Yes, sir.
    Mr. Scott. There is massive fraud going on. Have you fixed 
that?
    Mr. Godfrey. It is fixed. At this time, we do not have 
expenditures to any specific amount for compounded drugs, and 
with movement on to the PBM we will have even additional 
safeguards to make sure that compounded drugs are not 
compensated through the system.
    Mr. Scott. Did anybody go to jail behind that?
    Mr. Godfrey. I am unaware of that fact. We can certainly 
get back to you with facts regarding prosecutions.
    Mr. Scott. OK. Thank you.
    Do you support the long-term extension of the black lung 
excise tax of $1.10 per ton underground and 55 cents per ton 
surface coal?
    Mr. Godfrey. DOL does believe that it is critical for that 
to be maintained.
    Mr. Scott. Thank you.
    Are you aware of the cost of the extended presumption under 
the FECA program, what CBO had estimated, CBO scored that 
provision at about $103 million? Do you know what it has cost 
so far?
    Mr. Godfrey. May I ask, are you referring to the COVID-
related claims under FECA?
    Mr. Scott. Yes.
    Mr. Godfrey. OK. The numbers for the FECA COVID claims at 
the current time are approximately $24.3 million out of the 
22,000 accepted claims.
    Mr. Scott. And CBO estimated 103. Do you think you have 
clearly sufficient funds to pay those--continue paying those 
claims, including so-called long COVID claims that may extend 
many years?
    Mr. Godfrey. At this time, I do believe we have sufficient 
funding. We are working very carefully on the issue of long 
COVID and working within the agency here at DOL to make sure 
that we are identifying long COVID where it exists and how we 
can address it together.
    Mr. Scott. Thank you.
    Madam Chair, thank you very much, and I yield back.
    Chairwoman Adams. Thank you, Chairman Scott.
    I want to recognize now the gentlelady from North Carolina, 
our Ranking Member of the Ed and Labor Committee.
    Ms. Foxx, you are recognized.
    Ms. Foxx. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    I need to register my strong protest on how this hearing 
was begun. It is deeply inappropriate that this hearing started 
during votes while only two Members were present and no Members 
of the minority.
    We had essentially no Members present for testimony all 
because most Members of the Committee were doing their jobs and 
voting on the floor.
    We need to return to in-person Committee proceedings.
    Mr. Godfrey, in your testimony you State that OWCP is 
exploring the possibility of publishing an annual report on 
State workers' compensation programs and increasing oversight 
of State workers' compensation programs.
    The Department of Labor does not have the authority to 
monitor State workers' compensation programs, which were 
established more than a hundred years ago under State 
constitutions and legislation independent from Federal 
programs.
    This unilateral move by OWCP would be a significant 
departure from longstanding policy. Under what authority do you 
plan to do this? What is the purpose of this Federal report? 
And does the Department believe it can better manage State 
programs which are currently managed by an array of regulatory 
agencies at the State level and that OWCP programs are 
currently themselves in need of reform and suffering from 
mismanagement?
    And I need very quick, pertinent, cogent answers.
    Mr. Godfrey. Thank you. And if I miss any of the responses, 
please followup to let me know which ones.
    First of all, as a former State work comp commissioner, I 
understand the independence of State work comp systems. In 
terms of the work that is going to be done, those reports had 
been compiled from 1980 through 2004. We would use the same 
authorization.
    The information within those reports----
    Ms. Foxx. And we would like you to give us that 
authorization in writing after this hearing.
    Mr. Godfrey. I will do that. Thank you.
    In terms of the actual documentation within the reports, it 
would be limited to what was done previously, which is looking 
at the 19 essential recommendations from the bipartisan 1972 
National Commission report, as well as looking at annual 
changes in State law.
    I know that many of those pieces of documentation already 
exist from other areas but simply are under for-pay type of 
reports. So we would like to do that as we have done in the 
past.
    Ms. Foxx. This administration is looking backward again.
    Mr. Godfrey, please describe the primary source of funding 
for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, how much of an impact 
coal mine bankruptcies have had on the trust fund solvency 
compared to other challenges, such as interest on longstanding 
debt. And last, the impact of the Obama administration's failed 
energy policies and the Biden administration's similarly flawed 
approach on energy, on coal company bankruptcies, and on OWCP's 
resulting obligations.
    Mr. Godfrey. Sure.
    In terms of the issues relating to the trust fund debt, as 
was noted by Ranking Member Keller, many of those have been 
longstanding from the very beginning of the Disability Trust 
Fund.
    At the current time, the payment on interest into the trust 
fund is significant and is problematic in terms of any ability 
to reduce the trust fund debt.
    I believe in the last fiscal year, $214 million was 
required to be borrowed simply to cover the debt, which added 
to the $6 billion of current debt.
    In terms of the ability to raise revenues that would be 
necessary, obviously the sole mechanism that we have at this 
time is--so that we can make sure that we can protect the 
interest of the miners --is either further borrowing from 
Treasury or the use of the excise tax.
    Ms. Foxx. Mr. Godfrey, the 2021 National Academy of Social 
Insurance report on Workers' Compensation Benefits, Costs, and 
Coverage estimates that for State workers' compensation and 
longshore workers' compensation paid by private insurers, the 
total cost of benefits are made up about 50 percent disability 
benefits and 50 percent medical benefits.
    Currently, the FECA program's cost of $3 billion per year 
is made up of 67 percent disability benefits and 33 percent 
medical benefits.
    Why are disability benefits a much larger percentage of 
benefits under FECA? As Congress continues to examine the FECA 
program, what can we learn from State and private insurance on 
strategies to reintegrate individuals into the workplace?
    Mr. Godfrey. Thanks. That is a great question.
    One of the major differences that I have seen from being in 
the State system in Iowa versus the Federal system here at OWCP 
is the ability to settle claims.
    Because there is no settlement provision within the FECA 
program, claims are on the periodic rolls until we can 
establish that individual can go back to work or does have a 
different type of retained earning capacity. That is a big 
challenge for the FECA program.
    Ms. Foxx. Thank you very much.
    And thank you, Madam Chair, for yielding time.
    Chairwoman Adams. Thank you. Thank you, Representative 
Foxx.
    I want to recognize now Mr. Takano.
    Mr. Takano, you are recognized for five minutes.
    Mr. Takano. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Mr. Godfrey, your agency's appeal process for self-
insurance appears to take so long that a company can largely 
escape your requirements.
    For example, DOL asked Warrior Met Coal, which has an 
estimated $85 million in black lung liabilities, to increase 
its collateral from close to $20 million to $39 million. But 
Warrior Met appealed, and now, almost 2 years later, it appears 
the company still doesn't have to comply.
    My first question is, would you agree that a company that 
has posted collateral for less than 25 percent of its 
liabilities presents a risk to taxpayers if it is faced with a 
downturn in the market?
    Mr. Godfrey. Yes. We agree that the trust fund and 
taxpayers need to be protected against the consequences of coal 
mine bankruptcies. That is where we are going to move forward 
with the appeals, which are currently pending, including the 
Warrior Met appeal, as well as the other coal companies that 
were left by the last administration.
    And then we are also going to be proposing our new 
regulation, which I think will make it a much more efficient, 
speedy, and accurate process, to make sure that we are getting 
the correct levels of security.
    Mr. Takano. Well, thank you, Mr. Godfrey. I am very pleased 
to hear that.
    Warrior Met appears to specialize in metallurgical coal 
that is largely mined and exported. If I understand it, that 
coal is not subject to the tax that funds the Black Lung 
Disability Trust Fund. Is that correct?
    Mr. Godfrey. That is correct.
    Mr. Takano. So if this company shifted liabilities onto the 
trust fund, for the most part, it would not have contributed to 
that trust fund?
    Mr. Godfrey. At least not through the excise tax, that is 
correct.
    Mr. Takano. Well, I would like to ask, Madam Chair, 
unanimous consent to enter into the record relevant excerpts of 
the 10K filings for 2017 through 2020 of Warrior Met Coal.
    Chairwoman Adams. So ordered.
    Mr. Takano. Now, based on these documents, Warrior Met Coal 
has paid out a whopping $1.5 billion in dividends and stock 
buybacks since 2017 during a period of only $1.4 billion in 
total book net income and only $312 million in increased 
company value. It appears that the private equity funds 
controlling this company are stripping its assets.
    When will this company actually be required to post the 
collateral your agency believes it should?
    Mr. Godfrey. Sure. We are moving in the process of handling 
those appeals, and I would say that within a 90-day time period 
would be our aspiration. That was the aspiration of the prior 
administration when they testified. I do believe a 90-day 
timeframe is likely for holding them accountable.
    Mr. Takano. Well, I certainly hope so. And I know that the 
Chairwoman and this Committee will be very interested in making 
sure that your assessment is correct.
    What steps should be taken so that Wall Street firms are 
not able to game the system by socializing the costs of black 
lung benefits while privatizing their gains in the events of a 
bankruptcy?
    Mr. Godfrey. Sure. I think the best thing that OWCP can do 
is to move forward with the GAO recommendations and expand upon 
them.
    We are committed to strengthening the safety net for 
workers by making sure that those self-insured coal companies 
can meet their obligations under the Black Lung Benefits Act. 
And our role in that is to make sure that they have adequate 
liabilities. And we are taking the steps necessary by handling 
those current appeals which are pending and then moving forward 
with the regulations so that we can always meet those goals.
    Mr. Takano. Well, I certainly appreciate your testimony, 
Mr. Godfrey. And I hope very much that we will see Wall Street 
firms being prevented from gaming the system. This is really 
atrocious. We are talking about miners suffering from black 
lung, and I am just appalled at the gamesmanship that has been 
allowed to occur.
    I yield back, Madam Chair.
    Chairwoman Adams. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Takano.
    I am going to recognize now Representative Miller-Meeks.
    You are recognized for five minutes.
    Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Thank you, Chairwoman and Ranking 
Members as well, and thank you to our panelists.
    And, Mr. Godfrey, I thank you as a fellow Iowan. Thank you 
very much. I am not a Bulldog, I am a Hawkeye, but nonetheless 
we thank you for your service.
    And before I begin my questions, I would just like to 
respond to some comments made by one of my colleagues that 
implied that the Office of Workers' Compensation should more 
closely monitor State workers' compensation systems. And I 
associate myself with comments made by Ranking Member Foxx.
    I think it is important to point out that State workers' 
compensation systems are already effectively monitored through 
State oversight, insurance regulation, and research specific to 
each State. Adding another layer of monitoring is not necessary 
and could result in unintended consequences for insurance 
policyholders.
    State systems are highly effective at addressing the 
localized concerns of employees and employers, and we should 
continue to ensure that States, not bureaucrats in Washington, 
can regulate their systems.
    And with that, Mr. Godfrey, this November the United States 
reached a grim milestone by surpassing 100,000 drug overdose 
deaths in a 12-month period for the first time in our history. 
The pandemic has only exacerbated opioid and drug misuse. 
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor leadership recently 
reallocated resources from its opioid management to COVID-19 
claims adjudication.
    Do you believe it was an appropriate time to raid FECA's 
opioid management fund?
    Mr. Godfrey. First of all, answering your first comments, I 
am a Bulldog, but I am a Hawkeye fan. So it is good to talk to 
you.
    But in terms of the transition that was made there during 
the initial timeframe of COVID, I think the reason that that is 
allowable is because the FECA program and the prior 
administration as well had done a great job in terms of 
reducing the dependency on opioids. We had seen the levels of 
FECA claimants that had been taking opioids for greater than a 
year go from 9,000 down to 1,500.
    And as we move on to the PBM, the pharmacy benefits 
manager, we have very strict guidelines that are going to be 
put in place which will make it even more difficult and more 
stringent to control opioids, leaving them to 7-day 
prescriptions, after which the physicians will be required to 
present significant evidence through pharmacy management and 
physicians and the FECA program to get further opioid 
prescriptions.
    So I do think that the program has done a great job.
    Mrs. Miller-Meeks. And I think that one of the costs of the 
pandemic and how we have responded to the pandemic --and I 
addressed this with Dr. Walensky and Dr. Fauci on the 
Subcommittee on the Coronavirus task force --is the number of 
excess deaths.
    And we now know that the number of excess deaths from how 
we handled COVID-19, with lockdowns, isolation, banning social 
gatherings, that that has led to excess deaths, which are now 
in excess of what has happened from COVID-19 if, in fact, all 
deaths were COVID-19 and not somebody hospitalized with COVID-
19.
    And, in fact, the San Francisco Chronicle had published 
earlier this year, and then, in fact, has followed up with data 
that the deaths from overdose in the 18-to 45-year age group, 
in contrast to those deaths from COVID which are in the elderly 
age group, so these are 18-to 45-year-olds, are twice what they 
were from COVID.
    So I think it is extremely important that we recognize that 
in trying to treat a pandemic, that we are also creating harm 
to other individuals and individuals in a younger age group.
    One of the other concerns I had was that earlier this year 
in Ed and Labor we had a markup on COVID-19 funds with a 
presumption of COVID-19 in the workplace for longshoremen. I 
will readily admit that we do not have any ports in Iowa, and I 
am not exactly sure how longshoremen work. But in my mind, 
longshoremen are not in close contact with other individuals, 
such as they are in one of our other facilities, our 
manufacturing facilities.
    And we recently addressed that individuals that are more 
isolated in their workplace, i.e., truck drivers, don't have 
the same degree of risk to other individuals.
    So can you tell me, what is the average work hour of a 
longshoreman?
    Mr. Godfrey. Congresswoman, I cannot do that.
    What I cannote, though, is I do share your understanding 
that --my first job out of law school was representing IBP. I 
have driven through Ottumwa many, many times. I know the close 
proximity they work. I know the hot, steamy environment in 
which they work. I know that there are many occupations which, 
obviously, have considerable exposures that could occur.
    Mrs. Miller-Meeks. So my concern is----
    Mr. Godfrey. But I don't know the work hours.
    Mrs. Miller-Meeks. I do apologize for interrupting you. I 
am so sorry.
    But my point is that when we make a presumption of COVID-
19, when contact tracing, as a former director of public health 
and talking to my local public health agencies who have done 
contact tracing, the majority of diseases coming from the 
community from outside the workplace where people spend 8 hours 
in a workplace, but where there have been mitigation strategies 
put in place, the vast majority of their time is outside and 
infections are community acquired.
    Chairwoman Adams. The lady's time has expired.
    Mrs. Miller-Meeks. So we are placing an undue burden on 
employers when, in fact, we are, as a former colleague said, we 
are socializing the responsibilities around COVID-19 to 
employers and taxpayers.
    Chairwoman Adams. The lady's time has expired.
    Mrs. Miller-Meeks. Thank you. I yield back my time.
    Chairwoman Adams. Thank you very much.
    I recognize now Representative Jayapal.
    You are recognized for five minutes.
    Ms. Jayapal. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    And I am proud to represent thousands of workers that do 
keep one of the United States' largest ports running in 
Seattle. Our current supply chain challenges perfectly capture 
the critical role of longshore and harbor workers in delivering 
goods to American consumers, factories, and businesses.
    And during the pandemic lockdown, these were some of the 
essential workers that put their lives on the line to keep 
essentials flowing into the country, displaying remarkable 
resilience and flexibility. And despite their invaluable 
contributions, longshore and harbor workers are not afforded 
the same protection as Federal workers and are not covered 
under State workers' compensation laws. That is an oversight 
that must be rectified.
    There are at least 59 COVID-19 cases that have been 
confirmed at the Port of Seattle since March 2020, resulting in 
hundreds of dollars in lost wages and medical expenses for 
those workers and their families.
    So, Mr. Godfrey, under the current requirements of the 
Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, what kind of 
documentation is required to meet the standard to get a COVID-
19-related claim approved? And what is the hardest requirement 
to meet?
    Mr. Godfrey. Sure. Thank you for that question.
    First, I would point out I have had the opportunity since 
becoming Director of OWCP to tour ports, and I have seen not 
only with the ports in terms of the supply chain, but I have 
also seen ship repair, shipbuilding, and I have seen the very 
close quarters and the hazardous exposures that they do have.
    Obviously, as it relates to the Longshore program, the 
medical evidence is it is difficult to establish because of the 
unknown of where infections can occur.
    And I do know that of the COVID claims that have been filed 
program-wide that we have been able to determine from our 
review, less than 10 percent of those claims have been 
accepted, whereas under the FECA program and others, the 
numbers are obviously significantly higher, over 81 percent 
within the FECA program.
    Ms. Jayapal. Well, you are teeing it up perfectly for my 
next question because you had described how the American Rescue 
Plan improved access to workers covered by the Federal 
Employees' Compensation Act by shifting the presumption of 
COVID-19 claims.
    But as you say, the OWCP has processed more than 19,000 
coronavirus-related claims under FECA since February 2020 and 
has 200 pending claims, but, meanwhile, of about 1,300, just 7 
percent of COVID-19 claims filed by longshore and harbor 
workers have been approved.
    So based on your experience of implementing this policy, 
what would be some of the impacts of H.R. 3114 on case approval 
rates and program administration?
    Mr. Godfrey. Sure. I think one of the first things to note, 
we have seen the 22,000 claims that have been filed and the 
18,000 claims that have been accepted for COVID-related matters 
from Federal civilian employees under FECA. The number that I 
understand is accurate is 2.1 million Federal civilian 
employees.
    So the numbers that we are seeing are a very small number 
of Federal workers who actually had claims. And of those 
claims, many of them actually had no lost time or medical costs 
at all.
    So it is difficult for me to make a jump to know exactly 
how that would correspond with the longshore program. But what 
I do see is that the number of workers, as a percentage, is 
small that file a COVID claim.
    And I think the data that we have seen from NCCI, the 
National Council on Compensation Insurers, also supports that 
the average cost per claim where there is actually costs to 
that claim is approximately $8,700.
    Ms. Jayapal. Thank you.
    And how do the recordkeeping and reporting provisions of 
the bill compare to the typical cost of administering workers' 
compensation?
    Mr. Godfrey. I am not certain of what you are asking in 
that question. I apologize.
    Ms. Jayapal. Just essentially wanting to clarify that the 
costs are modest and they are not more complicated than 
administering any other workers' compensation program. The 
primary reporting requirement is just asking for verification 
that the employer is compliant with the current COVID-19 safety 
guidelines, correct?
    Mr. Godfrey. That is correct, yes.
    Ms. Jayapal. Great.
    Well, I think moving freight, operating equipment, building 
ships in America's ports and harbors have always been dangerous 
jobs, and the costs that are incurred by lost wages due to 
coronavirus illness and quarantine, not to mention the cost of 
medical care itself, can make or break a family's budget.
    And so H.R. 3114 is a commonsense bill that extends the 
same protection that Federal employees enjoy to longshore and 
harbor workers, and I really believe that we must ensure that 
these essential workers have easy access to the benefits they 
have earned.
    Thank you, Madam Chair. I yield back.
    Chairwoman Adams. And thank you.
    Is Representative Owens on?
    Mr. Owens. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Coal mining has been a vital part of the economy, the 
livelihoods, in the State of Utah for 150 years. Many in my 
State and districts are impacted by the black lung program.
    Mr. Costa, how much do the western coal operators pay into 
this fund? And, second, how much in benefits are paid out of 
the fund to employees in the western operation versus 
contributions that pay out in the eastern operations?
    And, Mr. Godfrey, if you wouldn't mind, if you have any 
other additional thoughts you would like to add to expand, 
please feel free to do so.
    Mr. Costa. Thank you, Congressman.
    Unfortunately, I don't know how much each--the companies in 
each area have paid into the program. I do know how much has 
been paid out in the different areas of the country.
    So in answer to the second part of your question, roughly 
$145 million has been paid to beneficiaries in the eastern part 
of the country, east of the Mississippi, primarily in the 
Appalachia part of the country, and $4 million has been paid in 
States west of the Mississippi.
    So there is a very large difference in the amount of 
benefits going to both sides and the number of beneficiaries --
where the beneficiaries are located. Most of the beneficiaries 
are located in the Appalachia region.
    Mr. Owens. OK. Thank you.
    Mr. Godfrey, would you like to add anything to that?
    Mr. Godfrey. I actually do not have data related to those 
numbers.
    Mr. Owens. OK.
    Thank you. And I yield back the remainder of my time. Thank 
you so much.
    Chairwoman Adams. Thank you.
    Let's see, I am trying to see who is----
    Staff. That would be Mr. Good, Madam Chairwoman.
    Chairwoman Adams. OK. Mr. Good, you are recognized for five 
minutes.
    Mr. Good. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    And I would like to echo the remarks of Ranking Member Foxx 
a few moments ago about coming into the Committee hearing in 
person. And I would like to just let everyone know that the 
Committee hearing room is Rayburn 2175.
    I have not seen anyone from the majority party in the 
Committee hearing room since I got here a year ago. And it is 
comfortable, and it is accommodating. And it would be much more 
meaningful for us all to be in person here with our witnesses 
instead of hiding behind COVID and pretending that we are 
afraid to come into the hearing room because of that.
    But instead of discussing that, I will move to my line of 
questioning --or further, I should say, to my line of 
questioning here.
    I share the concern that has been expressed for our injured 
workers, but I am also concerned for all the injured small 
business owners and their employees who have been hurt over the 
last year by these disastrous economic and fiscal policies of 
the Biden administration.
    Over the last 10 to 11 months we have seen historically 
high gas prices, grocery prices, and causing massive overall 
booming inflation from these policies, and that is hurting 
Americans all across the country.
    But instead of discussing that, my colleagues in the 
majority would rather discuss anything else, and that is 
because Congress is doing what it does best, making the problem 
worse. We are spending money we don't have and implementing 
damaging and dangerous policies to advance the radical Biden-
Pelosi socialist/communist agenda. And the Fed continues to 
accommodate by printing more money to pay for it.
    But workers across the country continue to pay more for 
their essentials, and what is left of their hard-earned savings 
is being robbed of its value as the Federal Government 
continues to devalue the dollar.
    This is not complicated, but our so-called experts in D.C. 
think they can lie their way out of this. However, Americans 
are not fooled because they can see and feel these rapidly 
rising prices. But the majority would rather talk about other 
things, but Americans need answers.
    So, Mr. Godfrey, does the Biden administration consider 
inflation to be an issue that is negatively impacting workers' 
compensation?
    Mr. Godfrey. Thank you for that question.
    It is not my understanding that that is an issue that is 
before OWCP, no.
    Mr. Good. Do you think that the administration understands 
that rapidly rising gas, grocery, utility, and other prices are 
hurting lower-income, middle-income, and fixed-income Americans 
and, frankly, disproportionately impacting the minority 
community?
    Mr. Godfrey. I have no personal knowledge, but I would 
assume they do, yes.
    Mr. Good. Yes. Well, I hope that they do, which makes it 
even worse if they do understand that but yet continue to 
double down on these policies.
    Other than calling for more spending, which is obviously 
going to make the problem worse, what does the Biden 
administration plan to do to try to actually help the problem 
--help them fix the problem?
    Mr. Godfrey. Well, one of the things that I know simply 
from OWCP is the work on the longshore supply chain issue. What 
we have seen is, since the introduction of the changes to the 
supply chain, especially at the Los Angeles-Long Beach Port, we 
have seen increased workloads. We have seen increased capacity. 
We have seen the shipping containers being moved following the 
recommendations of the administration. And what we have also 
seen is no increased workers' compensation claims because----
    Mr. Good. If I may interject, please.
    I am glad you brought up the supply chain issue, because 
this administration seems to think that these unconstitutional 
vaccine mandates that are currently, thankfully, being blocked 
by the courts are not only the answer to inflation, they 
actually think that if we fire more workers, if we fire more 
people because they want to protect their own healthcare, 
protect their own bodies, protect their own healthcare 
decisions, if we fire more people, so if we have fewer workers 
who will produce fewer goods, that will somehow make prices go 
down.
    I need to lend them my high school economics textbook.
    In your view, Mr. Godfrey, are the Americans who lose their 
jobs because they want to make their own healthcare decisions, 
should they be entitled to compensation?
    Mr. Godfrey. Are you referring to workers' compensation or 
unemployment compensation?
    Mr. Good. Just compensation generally. Should they qualify 
for that, if they are being fired by the Federal Government 
essentially for wanting to make their own healthcare decisions? 
Or said differently, do you think that firing millions of 
workers is going to help the inflation crisis?
    Mr. Godfrey. That is outside my purview as Director of 
OWCP.
    Mr. Good. Yes. Well, I want to move to another issue 
affecting workers' compensation and driving up the cost of fuel 
and utilities, not to mention threatening our national security 
and increasing our carbon --increasing overall carbon emissions 
because it is forcing us to purchase and ship energy from 
countries who hate us and don't have our emission control 
standards, and this is the impact of the President's war on 
energy.
    We knew this was going to happen from the first day when 
the Biden administration put an end to the Keystone pipeline. 
These radical climate policies are decimating American energy, 
driving up the price of fuel and utilities, and destabilizing 
the global economy. And, unfortunately, I am out of time for 
you to answer my questions.
    But thank you, Madam Chair.
    Chairwoman Adams. And I thank the gentleman.
    Let's see, next we have----
    Staff. That would be Mrs. Steel, Madam Chairwoman.
    Chairwoman Adams. All right.
    Mrs. Steel, the gentlewoman from California, you are 
recognized for five minutes.
    Mrs. Steel. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Recently, the United States reached a sad milestone by 
surpassing 100,000 drug overdose deaths in the last 12-month 
period for the first time.
    The largest number of Federal employees outside of the 
capital region is in my home State of California. Any changes 
to Federal workers dropped over those programs with all other 
programs will be impacted the most in California. The pandemic 
has only exacerbated opioid and drug misuse.
    So I want to ask Mr. Godfrey, Department of Labor leaders 
recently reallocated resources from its opioid management to 
the COVID-19 claims justification.
    Do you believe it is appropriate to use the Federal 
Employees' Compensation Act opioid management funds when the 
opioid overdose epidemic is still an extreme threat?
    Mr. Godfrey. Thank you for that question.
    I do believe it is because we have seen significant drops 
in the number of opioid prescriptions that are used, the number 
of individuals who have been on opioids for more than 100 days. 
All of the statistics that we have seen related to opioid 
usage, because of the work of OWCP and the very people that you 
are speaking of, has significantly reduced those numbers far 
below, I think, what we see in the general population.
    And I think where we were needing staff was to deal with 
the COVID epidemic, with the pandemic. And we have now moved in 
with the FECA program to a pharmacy benefits management 
service. And that, in and of itself, has even greater levels of 
protection than what were previously being provided.
    So I am comfortable that going forward that it was the 
right decision to utilize those staff Members where they were 
most needed because we have seen no, zero impact on opioid 
usage amongst FECA employees. In fact, the numbers continue to 
reduce.
    Mrs. Steel. Really? Because what you are saying about 
opioid drug overdose is reduced. But you know what? That is not 
what we really hear and that is not what we really see. 
Especially Orange County has been growing too, and not just 
Orange County but California and other States too. So I think 
kind of like what you are saying is contradicting about the 
opioids.
    But let's move on. So what actions has the Office of 
Workers' Compensation Programs taken to combat opioid and drug 
misuse?
    Mr. Godfrey. Sure. And I think just for purposes of 
clarification, the numbers that I am speaking about is that 
population of individuals who have Federal workers' 
compensation claims and who are beneficiaries with accepted 
claims. I am not speaking about the overall community outside 
of the Federal workforce or the Federal workforce that has had 
Federal work-related injury.
    So I think that may be where we are sort of looking at 
different numbers.
    Mrs. Steel. So do you have any of those stats of those 
Federal employees? How many? In which States? And what kind of, 
like, percentages of employees are using through workers' 
compensation programs or other Federal workers' drug overdose 
programs?
    Mr. Godfrey. I can certainly get the information to you by 
State. But what I can tell you is that there is less than 300 
FECA claimants that have a diagnosed and accepted opioid use 
disorder-related condition at this time and approximately 9,000 
Federal FECA claimants that had been taking opioids for over 1 
year, with 1,500 of them at levels above 90 dose equivalents.
    This is the largest reduction from January 2017 because the 
levels of 17 --they were previously 17,000 taking them for 
longer than 1 year. So that is going from 17,000 down to 9,000. 
That has been a very, very significant drop.
    And then in terms of those that take the highest levels of 
opioids have gone from 4,000 down to only 1,500.
    Mrs. Steel. Love to see those numbers. I mean, if Federal 
employees are getting much less numbers and it has been 
decreased, it is a very, very good sign. But love to look at 
those stats and love to have it. So thank you.
    But is the Biden administration taking the opioid overdose 
epidemic seriously? Because the last administration made many 
reforms to the Federal Employees' Compensation Act program to 
combat opioid misuse. So what is currently being done to build 
on those successes?
    Mr. Godfrey. I agree, during the past administration from 
2017 on there were significant reductions in opioids, and that 
should be applauded. What we are doing now is building on what 
has been that accomplishment, trying to take it farther through 
the protocols of the PBM, the pharmacy benefit management.
    Chairwoman Adams. The lady's time is up.
    Mrs. Steel. You know what, Madam Chair? I just want to get 
those stats from Mr. Godfrey. And you know what? Maybe I can 
get these answers in writing. It is going to be really great.
    Thank you very much for your answers.
    Chairwoman Adams. And thank you.
    OK. Representative Cawthorn, if you are on, you have five 
minutes, sir.
    Mr. Cawthorn. Excellent. Well, Subcommittee Chairwoman 
Adams, thank you very much.
    And, Congresswoman Steel, thank you for your questions to 
Mr. Godfrey. Those were great.
    I will be directing most of my questions to Mr. Costa.
    Like many Americans, I grew up idolizing Ronald Reagan, a 
President who believed in America and Americans. He was the 
Great Communicator. He could always turn a phrase in 
particular.
    And some of those that are sticking with me is when he 
said: Government isn't the solution; government is the problem. 
And the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 
I am from the government and I am here to help.
    The history of American politics is believers in big 
government who believe that the government will come in and fix 
all our problems and then those freedom, liberty-minded 
citizens who send their own candidates to fight against that.
    Today we are once again noting the actions of the 
government that are set against the people, particularly in the 
case of the war on coal.
    Mr. Costa, the 2020 GAO report notes that from 2014 to 2016 
U.S. coal production decreased from 1 billion tons, which is an 
incredible number, to only 728 million tons. What impact does 
this decreased production have on the Black Lung Disability 
Trust?
    Mr. Costa. Yes, Congressman.
    So the decrease in coal production has definitely had a 
strong impact on the amount of revenue that the Black Lung 
Trust Fund has been collecting as a result. It is a huge impact 
on it.
    In addition to the decrease in the amount of coal, we have 
also started to see a rise in the number of coal miners who are 
contracting black lung. So there is a good likelihood that we 
will see an increase in liability.
    At the same time, with more bankruptcies going on, there 
will be less production, so there should be less revenue coming 
in as well.
    Mr. Cawthorn. I mean, that is absolutely correct. I think 
it was there to take care of all the shortfalls for the 
funding, and it is really a true problem.
    And during the Obama administration, Democrats repeatedly 
asserted their regulations on coal-fired power plants would not 
jeopardize the industry. And all of us at the time realized 
that was asinine and not true, but we now know that to be 
untrue as a fact.
    Democrats' war on coal has led to the bankruptcy of dozens 
of operators, jeopardizing the economies of the Rust Belt 
States and leading to increased liabilities for the Black Lung 
Disability Trust Fund.
    Now, having said all that, I want to be clear on this. Does 
declining coal production contribute to the trust fund's 
financial challenges? And going even further, it seems likely 
that the effect of the government interference was twofold in 
the negative: both reducing the amount of coal available and 
decreasing the funds available for the trust fund.
    Is that something that you would agree with, Mr. Costa?
    Mr. Costa. Yes, declining coal production has impacted the 
trust fund's revenue. In addition, though, there was a year 
where the coal tax dropped as well, and that also had a rather 
large impact.
    We are estimating that if the coal tax drops again in 
January that the trust fund will go --will have about $15 
billion of debt by 2050, and that is accounting for additional 
potential bankruptcies, as well as drops in revenue.
    Mr. Cawthorn. Well, let me ask you one more question 
regarding the bankruptcies. I mean, how many of these operators 
have we lost since the 2014 time when they really declared this 
war on coal?
    Mr. Costa. We estimated that there--we believe there have 
been at least five additional bankruptcies since we reported on 
the bankruptcies from 2014 to 2016, both --of self-insured 
companies that is. And at least three of those companies have 
transferred liability that they had not properly set up 
collateral for to the trust fund.
    Mr. Cawthorn. Well, I mean, that is terrible. I can't 
imagine how many lives have just been completely disrupted, 
people's financial plans destroyed by these Democratic policies 
which are so anti-American, anti-human, anti-energy. And, 
really, just thanks to the failed energy policies of this 
administration, it seems that the Black Lung Disability Fund 
and the American people would be better served by more coal 
production.
    Now, thankfully, thanks to an increase in demand, we are 
recognizing that there is an uptick in production. But can we 
really count on this uptick to continue going when we have a 
President who actually disdains the industry?
    Mr. Costa. I don't know that I am qualified to answer that 
question, sir. We looked at the trust fund's----
    Mr. Cawthorn. Well, on behalf of the American people, I 
think we all realize that this industry will be severely 
limited and attacked by this administration. It is very, very 
sad.
    And I hope the Democrats can really come to their mind and 
we can all come together and try and fix this so we don't have 
more bankruptcies coming even since the five that we had since 
you did your last study.
    It is really sad so many people lose their livelihood, so 
many people are just--they take pride in working with their 
hands and take pride in providing for this country. And it 
creates a spiritual poverty when people also are incapable of 
actually being able to serve this country by serving our energy 
needs.
    So, Mr. Costa, thank you very much.
    Chairwoman Adams, I will now yield back. Thank you very 
much from your fellow North Carolinian.
    Chairwoman Adams. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Cawthorn.
    I think all Members, Committee Members, have spoken. I did 
want to respond before I provide time for Mr. Courtney and Mr. 
Mrvan in terms of responding to the comment that was made 
earlier about the Committee.
    We did as a courtesy wait about 1five minutes. But the 
Committee was announced that it would run, be held at 2 
o'clock, regardless of whether there was votes or not.
    But also, if you look at House Rule XI, clause 2, the 
Committee Rule maintains that a quorum for the purpose of 
taking testimony and receiving evidence is any two Members. We 
had a majority. I just wanted to clear that up for the record.
    I want to recognize now Mr. Courtney.
    You are recognized for five minutes, sir.
    Mr. Courtney. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, and thank you 
for your courtesy to allow me to join the Subcommittee today. 
And I just have a couple of quick questions.
    Mr. Godfrey, recently I introduced legislation, bipartisan 
legislation, with my good friend Mr. Walberg, the Improving 
Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers 
Act, H.R. 6087, which will update the Federal Employees' 
Compensation Act program to allow injured workers to seek care 
from nurse practitioners and physician assistants in addition 
to physicians.
    In 1974, when Congress amended the Federal Workers' 
Compensation Program, Congress specifically allowed workers to 
seek treatment from their personal physician in order to 
provide employees free choice of who provides their care. 
However, these changes only allowed for a physician to provide 
their treatment and sign off on claims.
    In the interim, as I think we all know, physician 
assistants and nurse practitioners have become a major 
component of the healthcare system and supplement the physician 
workforce and serve as primary care providers and specialists 
across the country, especially in rural and underserved areas.
    Our legislation would align the Federal law with the 
reality that nurse practitioners and physician assistants are 
the first-line providers for many Federal workers, and they 
should be incorporated into the program and would help address 
barriers to accessing the compensation workers are eligible 
for, in part because it can be difficult sometimes to find a 
physician participating in the program.
    So, Mr. Godfrey, can you describe the challenges that 
workers currently face in having their claims approved as it 
relates to finding a physician? And why is it difficult for 
them to find a physician willing to participate in the program?
    And, last, from your perspective, would allowing physician 
assistants and nurse practitioners to take some of these cases 
help improve access to compensation for eligible workers?
    Mr. Godfrey. Thank you for that question. There are several 
things that I think are responsive to your question.
    First, I think the issues related to a Federal system, with 
physicians located in one State, sometimes they have difficulty 
with the billing practices.
    And what we are looking to do is move forward with a 
medical provider network which would allow us to have a greater 
ability to access and work with physicians to make sure that it 
is easier for them to work with us so that when they provide 
services they can be timely paid for the services that they do 
provide. So I think that will be one instance.
    Obviously, you touched on the other issue. Rural America 
oftentimes, I know coming from Iowa, it is difficult to have a 
doctor in a specific town. It may be that a nurse practitioner 
or a physician assistant is the only individual who can provide 
the immediate treatment that you need or the ongoing care that 
is required following a workplace injury.
    I would note that my prior position was as the Chief Judge 
of the Employees' Compensation Appeals Board. And it is 
accepted within the FECA program for nurse practitioners and 
physician assistants to provide care. I think the distinction 
that we have seen is that, based upon existing case law or 
regulation, that a physician is given greater weight in terms 
of an opinion than a physician assistant or a nurse 
practitioner.
    So I think that is where we need to be careful in terms of 
moving forward. But I agree with you, the more that we can do 
through telehealth, the more we can do to utilize nurse 
practitioners and physician assistants will make it much easier 
for the claimant population to get the care that they need.
    Mr. Courtney. Great. Well, thank you.
    And as I said, this is a bill which, in my opinion, is just 
sort of updating the law and modernizing the law, and it 
basically allows the law to be aligned with the reality that is 
out there. And I think all of us can personally attest to the 
fact that the role, that this level of practice is now well 
established in the U.S., and we just want to make sure, again, 
that the Federal employee compensation system reflects that 
with this update.
    So thank you for your testimony.
    And thank you, Madam Chairwoman, for letting me participate 
this afternoon.
    Chairwoman Adams. And thank you, Representative Courtney.
    I am going to recognize Representative Stevens, and then we 
will get to Mr. Mrvan.
    Representative Stevens.
    Ms. Stevens. Yes, I am here, Madam Chair, and thank you so 
much for having today's important hearing. This is one of the 
major reasons I have been just compelled to serve on this 
Committee and do the work of this Subcommittee, particularly, 
on workforce protections.
    Today's topic regarding the safety net and the conversation 
that we have had around workers' comp and some of the threats, 
this is very visceral to us in Michigan. It has come up to me 
from constituents time and time again.
    And as we hone in I would like to center us on opioid abuse 
again, because we have just seen an incredible toll of 
fatalities, of overdoses. We have injury claims being made each 
and every year. And recently, as of 2018, approximately 27,000 
people in the Federal Workers' Compensation Program who are 
chronic opioid users.
    So, Mr. Godfrey, the Department has taken reforms for 
prescribing opioids to treat pain, but it is certainly still 
excessively permissive policies in the past that have resulted 
in tens of thousands of injured workers becoming addicted. And 
I would be curious for you to just describe how DOL is managing 
this today and what we need to know about some corrective steps 
that you have put into place.
    Mr. Godfrey. Yes. Thank you for that question.
    I agree, and it has been a national tragedy. Outside of the 
workers' compensation system, again, we see lives disrupted 
unexpectedly by simply being prescribed an opioid and addiction 
following from that.
    The Department of Labor has recognized, going back before 
even 2016, as this tragedy unfurled itself, and the actions 
that have been taken since that time, as I have talked about 
with the statistics that I shared with Representative Steel and 
will provide in greater detail, show that there has been a 
significant decrease.
    But it does require continued monitoring. And we have made 
sure that, first off, limiting the number of authorizations and 
the dosages of those authorizations going back to the fall of 
2019 with a bulletin. But now, moving into the PBM, the 
pharmacy benefits management service, we do have, I believe, 
even greater protections in place.
    Again, this impacts people within the workers' compensation 
area, and that is where we can make an impact. But, obviously, 
this is just a horrible tragedy that is affecting people both 
outside of the workers' compensation system and in it. And any 
way that we can learn from what we have done in DOL to be 
successful I think should be shared.
    Ms. Stevens. Yes, it should be shared, and certainly not 
bearing the full responsibility. We appreciate your answer and 
your work in general.
    One other question for you, separate to what we were 
talking about on opioids, is how are you at all --and this is 
out of curiosity for the scope of work that you are undertaking 
as a Director of the office in the Department of Labor --but 
how are you working with States and States' programs? Because I 
can just imagine that getting really busy and really 
complicated, and I am wondering if I can help you.
    Mr. Godfrey. Sure. I think the way that I could answer that 
best is to note that as a commissioner in the State of Iowa, I 
was involved in national and international organizations 
relating to State workers' compensation systems and 
jurisdictions. And I built relationships, mainly through the 
International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and 
Commissions, and that is an organization which all of the 
States and several jurisdictions from Canada, Australia, 
Germany take part in.
    Although from OWCP working with States really does not 
exist to a large extent, working through organizations like 
that where we can build relationships, where we can share 
information, our best practices and our data can be shared with 
the States.
    For instance, the opioid work that we have done. I know 
many States have made great progress through their work comp 
systems with opioids. But the things that we can share with 
them, that has been very, very helpful.
    Ms. Stevens. Thank you for that.
    And Madam Chair, I yield back.
    Chairwoman Adams. Thank you, Representative Stevens. Thank 
you very much.
    I am going to recognize Mr. Mrvan now.
    You have five minutes, sir.
    Mr. Mrvan. Thank you, Chairwoman.
    I just want to take a moment to thank Chair Adams and the 
Committee staff for holding this important hearing today to 
provide oversight of the OWCP and for including in this 
discussion legislation I have introduced, the Longshore and 
Harbor Workers' COVID-19 Compensation Act.
    Throughout the pandemic, maritime workers have performed 
essential work. They have toiled to keep our ports operating, 
loading and uploading ships, building and repairing vessels, 
and oftentimes working in close quarters as they do so.
    And as has been discussed in this hearing today, workers 
deserve adequate recourse when they suffer workplace injury or 
illness.
    However, hundreds of longshore and harbor workers have 
contracted COVID-19, a deadly illness, have lost out on wages 
due to mandatory quarantine requirements, and have incurred 
medical expenses due to illness.
    But those workers have been unable to access workers' 
compensation afforded under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' 
Compensation Act unless they overcome a burdensome process to 
prove they were infected at work.
    To remedy this issue, my bill will establish a conclusive 
presumption that longshore and harbor workers who have tested 
positive for COVID-19 contracted the virus at work, making them 
eligible for workers' comp under the LHWCA.
    This measure would ensure that longshore and harbor workers 
enjoy the same presumption that essential workers in several 
States and frontline Federal workers now benefit from and serve 
to protect the health, safety, and livelihood of our maritime 
workers.
    I thank the Chairwoman again for this time and her 
leadership on this legislation. And I, again, thank her for the 
opportunity to discuss this important legislation.
    And I thank you, and I yield back.
    Chairwoman Adams. Thank you very much, Mr. Mrvan.
    Have all of the Members had an opportunity to speak? We 
have had some people come in and out.
    OK. Great.
    Pursuant to Committee practice, materials for submission 
for the hearing record must be submitted to the Committee Clerk 
within 14 days following the last day of the hearing, so by the 
close of business on December 16, preferably in Microsoft Word 
format.
    Only a Member of the Subcommittee or an invited witness may 
submit materials for inclusion in the hearing record, and the 
materials must address the subject matter of the hearing. 
Please submit materials to the Committee Clerk electronically 
by emailing submissions to [email protected].
    Again, I do want to thank the witnesses for their 
participation today, and I thank all of the Members of the 
Subcommittee for their attendance.
    The Members may have some additional questions for the 
witnesses, and so we ask that you please respond to those 
questions in writing. The hearing record will be open for 14 
days in order to receive those responses.
    I do want to remind my colleagues that, pursuant to 
Committee practice, witness questions for the hearing record 
must be submitted to the Majority Committee Staff or Committee 
Clerk within 7 days. The questions submitted must address the 
subject matter of the hearing.
    I want to recognize the distinguished Ranking Member for a 
closing statement.
    Mr. Keller.
    Is the Ranking Member present?
    Mr. Keller. Yes, I am, Madam Chair.
    Chairwoman Adams. OK.
    Mr. Keller. I would ask unanimous consent to enter into the 
record a letter from more than 90 national and State trade 
associations and businesses, including the National Federation 
of Independent Business, opposing the authorization of funding 
for DOL to monitor State workers' compensation programs.
    Chairwoman Adams. Yes, sir, so recorded.
    Mr. Keller. Thank you.
    And now may I do my closing?
    Chairwoman Adams. Yes, sir, you may.
    Mr. Keller. Thank you.
    I would like to thank the witnesses for their testimony.
    Today we discussed a wide variety of Federal workers' 
compensation programs, in addition to legislation which 
purports to solve shortcomings in many of them. Unfortunately, 
many of these proposals discussed today only add additional 
layers of expense to already bloated and mismanaged Federal 
programs.
    For instance, the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, or the 
BLDTF, has been in debt since it was created over 40 years ago. 
Many of the trust fund's problems stem from the Department of 
Labor's decades-long failure to provide proper oversight or 
enforcement, in addition to its interest accumulation on its 
debt.
    The Trump administration made great strides to correct 
flaws in the Black Lung Benefits Program and to revamp the 
self-insurance process for coal mine operators. But the Biden 
administration chose to weaken the Black Lung Trust Fund by 
withdrawing these commonsense reforms.
    Additionally, Committee Democrats introduced a partisan 
bill just yesterday which allegedly addresses the failings of 
the Black Lung Benefits Program. It is just irresponsible and 
absurd to have a legislative hearing on a bill released only a 
day before with no stakeholders present to testify and provide 
feedback.
    With regard to the FECA program, however, bipartisan 
agreement should be possible. In the 112th Congress, this 
Committee and the House of Representatives took steps to reform 
FECA by passing bipartisan legislation. I look forward to 
working with my Democrat colleagues with the hope that we can 
repeat this success in the 117th Congress.
    Rather than implement radical proposals, such as improperly 
monitoring State workers' compensation programs, I urge the 
Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, OWCP, to focus on 
reforming the programs it currently oversees by immediately 
addressing recommendations made by the Government 
Accountability Office and the Office of Inspector General.
    And rather than consider partisan and radical legislation, 
I hope this Committee can return to bipartisan cooperation to 
ensure these programs truly help injured workers, are efficient 
and effective, and make good use of taxpayer dollars.
    Again, I thank the witnesses for participating today.
    And I yield back.
    Chairwoman Adams. Thank you, Mr. Keller. We appreciate your 
comments.
    I want to now recognize myself for the purpose of making my 
closing statement. But before I do that, because we have heard 
at least three times today during this hearing about the 
meeting and how it was conducted and when, I just want to 
remind the Members that, pursuant to the rules and regulations 
of the House and the Speaker's extension of the covered period 
--and that has to do with COVID, and, hopefully, things won't 
get worse --the hearing was noticed. It was called to order. 
And it was noted as a completely remote hearing, which 
certainly is the prerogative of the Chair. And so we are going 
to continue to conduct the meeting in accordance with all of 
the rules that we have.
    So I just want to remind the Members of that.
    And let me just say to our panelists, thank you for your 
time. Thank you to the witnesses for your testimony. We learned 
a lot today about the new initiatives being advanced by the 
Department of Labor, including the reinstitution of the 
monitoring and reporting on State workers' compensation 
programs.
    Greater awareness of these initiatives is needed because 
many State workers' compensation programs have been pared back 
as part of a race to the bottom as States compete with each 
other to reduce employer costs.
    The implications for the Federal budget are clear, which is 
why there is a role for the Federal Government. When States 
have at the request of corporate interests cut back benefits 
for workers with disabilities, it is the injured workers and 
the taxpayers, instead of employers, who are forced to foot the 
bill for serious workplace injuries. Without income, workers 
with disabilities must then turn to Social Security Disability 
Insurance and Medicaid or Medicare for medical costs.
    The Department of Labor is commended for addressing these 
issues, and we are hopeful that the 5 years of adding funding 
for this office included in the Build Back Better Act, when 
enacted, will ensure that this needed oversight of State 
programs can move forward on a long-term basis.
    Today we also learned that the Office of Workers' 
Compensation Programs has not implemented the necessary changes 
to protect taxpayers from self-insured coal operators who fail 
to provide adequate collateral to cover the cost of black lung 
benefits if they file for bankruptcy.
    In a hearing on this subject just 2 years ago, GAO flagged 
what needed to be done to fix the problem. We need a firm date 
by when OWCP will provide a solution, a firm date.
    The system has been gamed for too long, and at least a 
billion dollars in black lung disabilities have been 
transferred from coal operators and Wall Street investors to 
the trust fund, driving it even further into debt. The red ink 
today is over $6 billion.
    DOL also needs to develop a long-term strategy to shore up 
the solvency of the trust fund so there will be no question 
that the resources are there for miners and their survivors to 
cover black lung claims.
    The black lung excise tax rate will drop by 55 percent at 
the end of December unless Congress extends it. Fortunately, a 
short-term extension is in the Build Back Better Act covering 
through 2025, and we are awaiting Senate action.
    That excise tax alone is not enough, however. A long-term 
strategy is needed because coal production has declined and 
will continue to do so.
    We should not be in a situation where the Federal 
Government is left facing the consequences of the cost of a 
lethal occupational disease caused by operators who failed to 
adequately protect their miners.
    And, finally, we learned that there are opportunities to 
improve the Federal workers' compensation programs, and I hope 
we can move forward to pass legislative solutions that 
modernize Federal workers' compensation programs.
    Again, I want to thank you, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Godfrey, Mr. 
Costa, for joining us today.
    If there is no further business, without objection, the 
Subcommittee stands adjourned. Thank you.
    [Additional submissions by Mr. Carbajal follow:]
    
    
    [Additional submissions by Mr. Takano follow:]
    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


    [Whereupon, at 4:08 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]

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