EEIOICPA Procedure Manual Changes – Part 4

The Department of Labor’s Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation (DEEOIC) revised its Procedure Manual on November 21, 2019.  Cold War Patriots has reviewed the changes and will provide a summary and how they may affect your claim. This is Part 4 of a 5 part series which explains DEEOIC’s instruction to claims examiners (CE) when searching the SEM for fibrotic lung diseases.

Chapter 18.13 is an effort to clarify how to do a Site Exposure Matrix search for fibrotic lung diagnoses.  This section clarifies that pneumoconiosis is caused by the deposition of particulate matter in the lungs, rather than stating it IS the deposition of particulate matter in the lungs.  It also adds a directive to the CE that pneumoconiosis, pulmonary fibrosis and interstitial lung disease are to be considered equivalents for claim adjudication. The CE is supposed to look for all these lung diseases in the Site Exposure Matrix under “pneumoconiosis, other.”

For the most part this should be helpful to claimants.  Where there may be a problem is with SEM searches for various lung diseases lumped into one section, “pneumoconiosis, other”.  Several board members questioned whether this will make it harder for people to locate information on lung diseases as many will not think to look under pneumoconiosis.

If you have any questions or concerns about this policy change our Help Center is here for you, 888-903-8989.