Advisory Board Teleconference and Stakeholders’ Webinar

There were two meetings last week by federal agencies.  The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health held a teleconference on June 24, 2020 and the Department of Labor’s Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation held a Stakeholder Webinar on June 25, 2020.  The highlightsd of those meetings are below.

Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health

Ted Katz, the former Designated Federal Official (DFO) for the Board, retired earlier this month.  Dr. Rashaun Roberts facilitated this meeting as the new DFO.

The teleconference was held to plan for the August 26-27, 2020 meeting.  Because of COVID-19 this will be a virtual meeting as opposed to the planned face to face meeting previously planned.  The meeting will last four to five hours each day with a public comment period on August 26, 2020.

The proposed agenda includes:

• Updates from NIOSH, DOL, and DOE.
• Site profile review for W.R. Grace.
• Closeout site profile issues for Superior Steel.
• Site profile review for Idaho National Lab.
• Presentation of Reduction Pilot Plant Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) petition.

A presentation for the Y-12 SEC petition 250 may not be ready for the August meeting.  NIOSH identified a “data glitch” and the resolution to that may not be completed in time.

DEEOIC Stakeholders’ Webinar

The Stakeholders’ webinar was very informative and provided information on,

• Program Updates
• Procedure Manual
• Issuance of Bulletin 20-03 and 20-04 (telemedicine)
• Website Tour
• Utilization of the Energy Document Portal (EDP)

Rachel Pond, DEEOIC Director, and Doug Pennington, DEEOIC Deputy Director, answered questions submitted live by the stakeholders.  The stakeholders learned,

• Only the industrial hygienist can request an interview with a claimant if there’s a question about the level of exposure.
• DEEOIC is analyzing their fee schedule to make sure their reimbursements are in line with wages.
• Providers should not use the decimal point when entering the ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes.
• DEEOIC will analyze the feasibility of converting claimants with ICD-9 codes to ICD-10 codes. Their concern is that the conversion may accidentally limit the treatments allowed.
• DEEOIC is well aware of the problems with the new bill payer contractor, CNSI. They were unable to provide any explanation of why there are so many problems.  They did ask for people to be patient that CNSI is improving.

DEEOIC hopes to return to the in-person town hall meetings as soon as it is safe.  However, they may also continue to virtual Stakeholders’ webinar for those who cannot attend the town hall meetings.