On June 6, 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Division of Federal Employees’ Compensation (DFEC) issued FECA Bulletin No. 18-03 to clarify the requirements for coverage of psychiatric claims under the War Hazards Compensation Act (WHCA). The Bulletin makes clear that in order for a Carrier to obtain reimbursement of benefits paid under the Defense Base Act (DBA), it must produce evidence of “sufficient specificity of the employee’s potential exposure to a war-risk hazard such that it is reasonable to conclude that the employee was actually exposed to such war-risk hazard(s)”. This standard is especially geared towards cumulative trauma claims in which the claimant might develop psychiatric injury from exposure to multiple war-risk hazards over a sustained overseas deployment. The new policy recognizes that war-risk hazards such as explosions or gunshots may be so prevalent in a warzone that it is not realistic for a claimant or employer to…
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