Improving Access to Workers’ Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act of 2025

The bill would amend chapter 81 of title 5, U.S. Code — the law governing the federal workers' compensation program — to formally recognize nurse practitioners and physician assistants as "other eligible providers." Under current law, only physicians and osteopathic practitioners may perform key roles in the program. The bill would allow nurse practitioners and physician assistants, acting within the scope of their practice as defined by state law, to prescribe or recommend treatment, certify the nature of an injury and its probable extent of disability, provide prescribed treatment, and participate (alongside a Department of Labor-designated physician) in mandatory workers' compensation examinations of injured workers.

The bill would not replace physicians in the program; it would add these providers as alternatives alongside them. The scope of practice for each nurse practitioner or physician assistant would be governed by the law of the state where they practice, meaning the services available to an injured worker could vary by location. The Secretary of Labor would be required to finalize implementing regulations within six months of enactment.

Injured federal employees nationwide who seek workers' compensation benefits and may have greater access to nurse practitioners or physician assistants than to physicians. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants employed in federal occupational health settings or treating federal workers would gain formal authority to certify injuries and prescribe treatment. The Department of Labor, which administers the program, would be responsible for issuing implementing rules.

Federal workers who are injured on the job currently cannot have their injuries certified or their treatment prescribed by a nurse practitioner or physician assistant, even when those providers are readily available and qualified under state law. Expanding eligible providers could reduce delays in accessing care and certifying disability, which can hold up compensation claims. The practical effect would depend partly on each state's scope-of-practice rules for these providers.

The Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs would need to finalize regulations within six months of enactment to implement the new provider category. The bill amends specific sections of title 5 by inserting "or other eligible provider" alongside existing physician references, so many existing procedural rules would carry over. Because scope of practice is defined by state law, the Department would likely need to address how state variation is handled during mandatory federal examinations, where a Department-designated physician must still participate alongside the eligible provider.