[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 118 (Monday, July 20, 2026)]
[House]
[Pages H4654-H4656]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PUTTING PATIENTS FIRST BY STRENGTHENING PROVIDER ACCOUNTABILITY IN FECA
ACT
Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 8823) to amend the Federal Employees Compensation Act to
allow the Secretary of Labor to suspend payments to medical providers
who have been convicted of fraud, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 8823
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Putting Patients First by
Strengthening Provider Accountability in FECA Act''.
SEC. 2. FRAUD CONVICTIONS.
(a) In General.--Section 8103 of title 5, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``These expenses'' and
inserting ``Subject to subsection (c), these expenses'';
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ``The Secretary, under''
and inserting ``Subject to subsection (c), the Secretary,
under''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(c)(1) The Secretary of Labor may suspend payments to a
provider of services, appliances, or supplies furnished
pursuant to subsection (a), or vouchers or certifications
described in subsection (b) for the expenses incurred by the
employing agency with respect to such a provider, if the
provider has been convicted of fraud with respect to--
``(A) this subchapter;
``(B) any Federal health care benefit program (as defined
in section 24 of title 18, United States Code); or
``(C) any State program for which payments are made to
providers for services, appliances, or supplies similar to
such services, appliances, or supplies provided pursuant to
this subchapter.
``(2) The Secretary shall promulgate regulations to carry
out this subsection.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this Act shall
apply with respect to payments made to a provider of
services, appliances, or supplies on or after the date that
is 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Michigan (Mr. Walberg) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Michigan.
General Leave
Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and to include extraneous material on H.R. 8823.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Michigan?
There was no objection.
Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 8823, bipartisan
legislation that protects both taxpayers and the Federal employees who
rely on the Federal Employees' Compensation Act, when they are injured
on the job.
Federal workers who are navigating an injury deserve timely, honest,
and compassionate care, not to become the target of fraud. Programs
like FECA exist to ensure these workers receive the medical treatment
and support they need to recover.
Unfortunately, some bad actors have exploited that trust. Instead of
following through on the responsibility to care for injured workers,
certain medical providers have treated FECA like a personal ATM:
submitting fraudulent claims, abusing the system, and enriching
themselves at the expense of both taxpayers and the very people they
were entrusted to help.
The Office of Inspector General recently testified before Congress
that since 2015, it has opened more than 320 criminal investigations
involving the FECA program. These investigations have resulted in the
indictment and
[[Page H4655]]
conviction of 322 individuals and more than $1.7 billion in recovered
funds.
This is unacceptable. Every fraudulent claim weakens the program that
countless injured Federal employees depend on. Every act of deception
undermines confidence in a system that exists to support workers during
a difficult moment in their lives.
H.R. 8823 delivers a straightforward, commonsense solution. It
codifies existing Department of Labor policy to prevent medical
providers who are convicted of defrauding FECA from continuing to
receive taxpayer-funded payments through the program. If someone has
been found guilty of exploiting injured workers and stealing public
funds, they should not continue to profit from the very program they
abused.
This legislation sends a clear message, Mr. Speaker: If you cheat
taxpayers, exploit injured workers, and abuse the public trust, there
will be consequences.
Fraud should have no place in our workers' compensation system.
Ambulance-chasing schemes and dishonest providers have taken advantage
of this program for far too long. Today, we have the opportunity to put
an end to that abuse and reaffirm that these funds are meant to serve
injured workers, not line the pockets of fraudsters.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 8823 and tell these
scammers that their payday is over.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 8823, Putting Patients
First by Strengthening Provider Accountability in FECA Act.
Providers are the greatest source of fraud in the Federal Employees'
Compensation Act program, otherwise known as FECA. For example, during
this committee's oversight of the opioid crisis, we learned about
corrupt compounding pharmacies that were crushing up pills and putting
them into creams, even though the medicines in those pills were not
absorbed through the skin. A 15-ounce tube of this useless cream got
charged to the FECA program for $15,000.
Existing rules allow the Department of Labor to strike a provider
from the list of eligible providers in the FECA program when they are
convicted of fraud in any public health program. Those rules do not
enable the Department to stop payment on any claims that a convicted
provider has already submitted prior to the conviction. That could
amount to millions of dollars in claims with a high risk of fraud
moving through the system.
There are, of course, due process issues that could arise, but this
bill already contemplates those issues by empowering the Department of
Labor to develop appropriate rules for implementing the new authority.
All in all, this bill closes an important gap and protects taxpayers.
Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to my colleagues Representatives Omar and
Mackenzie on this issue. I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Mackenzie), the chairman of the Subcommittee on
Workforce Protections and the author of this legislation.
Mr. MACKENZIE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R.
8823, the Putting Patients First By Strengthening Provider
Accountability in FECA Act, which I am leading alongside my colleague,
Representative Omar.
H.R. 8823 amends the FECA program, or the Federal Employees
Compensation Act, to codify the Department of Labor's ability to
suspend payments to medical care providers who have been convicted of
fraud with respect to this program.
Each year, the FECA program provides benefits to hundreds of
thousands of injured Federal workers. This is their system, and they
deserve for it to operate efficiently, reliably, and effectively. That
requires us to establish commonsense protections against bad actors who
would abuse FECA and rip off the Federal workers in the process.
Throughout this year, we have heard numerous concerning reports of
providers targeting Federal programs with fraudulent schemes, and FECA
is no exception.
{time} 1630
As chair of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, I held a hearing
in which we heard from those who testified about fraud costing
taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, money that could have gone
toward providing quality care to Federal workers who were injured.
This is unacceptable. Every dollar that goes to a fraudulent provider
is one less dollar going toward providing high-quality medical care to
an injured Federal worker. That is why when a provider is convicted of
fraud, the Department of Labor should have clear authority to shut down
the flow of taxpayer dollars that was going into their pockets.
Currently, DOL has the authority to suspend payments to medical
providers who are convicted of fraudulent activity. This authority has
not been codified and could be rescinded at any time. When it comes to
protecting taxpayers and injured workers, our laws must be clear: No
dollars should go to fraudulent providers now or at any point in the
future.
That is why H.R. 8823 gives DOL the permanent authority to block bad
actors from hijacking the system that Federal workers rely on. H.R.
8823 does not aim to restrict access to medical care for our injured
Federal employees. Instead, this bill helps ensure that care is only
delivered by providers who meet clear standards of professional and
ethical conduct.
It is time that we give taxpayers and Federal workers the
commonsense, bipartisan protections that they deserve. That is why I
urge all of my colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, this simple, bipartisan bill protects taxpayers. It does
so without weakening the FECA program. It simply targets truly bad
actors, corrupt physicians, pharmacists, and other providers who
exploit injured Federal workers and rip off the FECA program.
This is an example of the kind of reform that makes sense. We are not
saving money by turning our backs on the people who need these
benefits. Instead, we are focusing the attention where it ought to be,
on the providers who profit off workers' pain unlawfully.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, families across the Nation carefully budget every dollar
they earn to provide for themselves and their loved ones. When they
send their tax dollars to Washington, they deserve to know that their
hard-earned money is being managed with the same discipline and
responsibility.
The American people expect us to be good stewards of taxpayer
dollars. They work hard, pay their taxes, and deserve to know that
those funds are not lining the pockets of fraudsters who exploit the
system for personal gain.
Fraud is never a victimless crime. It steals taxpayer dollars and
diverts funds away from those they are intended to serve. Every dollar
lost to fraud is a dollar that cannot be used to provide legitimate
care for injured workers or fulfill commitments we have made to them.
Congress has a responsibility to protect both the integrity of our
programs and the taxpayers who fund them. That means ensuring there are
real consequences for those who abuse the public's trust and preventing
them from continuing to do so. It also means taking commonsense steps
to strengthen accountability and safeguard the programs that millions
rely upon.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 8823 does exactly that. It helps ensure that
providers who have been convicted of defrauding the Federal Employees'
Compensation Act program cannot continue to be allowed to profit from
the very program they exploited.
This is a straightforward measure that protects taxpayers,
strengthens accountability, and preserves the integrity of an important
program for injured Federal workers.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, stand
up for responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars, and vote ``yes'' on
H.R. 8823.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
[[Page H4656]]
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 8823, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
____________________