Editorial: Give claims to agency that cares

Monday, Nov. 3, 2003 | 8:51 a.m.

During the Cold War, thousands of Americans worked on a contract basis at the Nevada Test Site and other Energy Department facilities that specialized in the production of nuclear weapons. In those early days of the nuclear age, safety standards were often insufficient because the technology was so new. Many of those contract workers were unknowingly exposed to radiation or toxic metals that caused health problems, including cancer, later in their lives. It took years for the federal government to acknowledge any responsibility. Finally, three years ago, the Energy Department created a program to assist the former contractors in applying for state workers' compensation benefits.

Before any compensation could be paid, a worker's illness first had to be certified as job related. This required a system, which the Energy Department created. For those contract workers making a claim, the department was to gather all of their employment records and pass them to an independent panel of physicians, which would then determine if exposure to harmful materials on the job caused the illness. If so, the Energy Department would then assist the worker in filing a claim for workers' compensation.

A different program was set up at the same time for full-time, long-term employees of the Energy Department who also developed illnesses from exposure to radiation or toxic metals. This program was administered by the Labor Department. Those whose claims were certified would receive $150,000 each, plus payments for any future medical treatment made necessary by their on-the-job exposures.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., along with seven other House Democrats, researched the two programs. They found that the Energy Department received more than 20,000 claims from former contract workers -- but has sent only 81 of the claims to the physician's panel. Meanwhile, the Labor Department has finished 95 percent of its 35,832 cases, the House members found.

Berkley, her seven colleagues, and eight senators are now pushing for the Labor Department to assume a strong role in the claims processing for the contract workers. Based on the numbers they compiled, which came from the General Accounting Office and the Energy Department itself, making this switch is essential if justice is to be served. At the Energy Department's current rate of progress, it would take more than 700 years just to get the rest of the contract workers' applications to the physicians' panel. Clearly, the Energy Department is not performing and all haste should be made to transfer this responsibility to another department.