Workers' Compensation Plans

Characteristics of Workers’ Compensation Plans

Brittny Garrels

HCR/230

18 April 2012

Jill Frawley

Characteristics of Workers’ Compensation Plans

Every job has features to which describes how a person’s job must be completed. The features of the four federal workers compensation plans and the two types of state workers compensation benefits will not be the same. After reading this, the reading will have an understanding of why it is necessary to have both federal and state compensation plans.

The first federal worker compensation plan is the Federal Employees’ Compensation Program. For the workers of the federal government, this program provides compensation through the ‘Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA)’ (Valerius, Bayes, Newby, & Seggern, 2008). The second federal worker compensation plan is the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Program. This program provides coverage to workers that are employed in the marine field, or work with water. The third compensation plan is the Federal Black Lung Program. For the workers that previously worked, or currently work within the coal mines this act provides coverage by the ‘Black Lung Benefits Act’ (Valerius, Bayes, Newby, & Seggern, 2008). The last federal compensation act is the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. This program provides coverage and benefits for employees who would have developed a cancer or a serious disease because of the exposure radiation or harmful chemicals with radioactive potency. Within each of these programs medical treatment is provided as well as benefits such as cash if workers lose wages, rehabilitation, and benefits to workers who were injured while working. When working with state compensation plans the benefits provided may vary.

State programs differ from Federal programs. State programs are created to very for each state. Each state will create a plan specific to that state to benefit the type of work that the state finds to...