Press Releases

Today, Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Workforce Protections Subcommittee Chairman Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) sent a letter to Comptroller General Gene L. Dodaro requesting the Government Accountability Office (GAO) review the drivers of hearing loss among American longshoremen, how compensation claims are awarded, and how to amend federal law to more effectively respond to hearing loss claims.
 
In the letter, the Members write: “Each year, the maritime industry pays millions of dollars in claim settlements, awards, and litigation costs due to workers’ compensation claims, including those related to hearing loss. However, many employers in the port, marine terminal, and shipbuilding industries contend that a significant portion of the hearing loss claims for which they must provide compensation are not the result of waterfront employment...”
 
The letter continues: “Enacted in 1927 and administered by the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP), the Federal Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) provides for the payment of compensation, medical care, and vocational rehabilitation services to employees disabled from on-the-job injuries… The LHWCA has not been meaningfully updated since 1984, and it differs from other workers’ compensation programs with respect to hearing loss claims. Under current law, employers are generally responsible for hearing loss sustained by their employees due to work-related noise exposure, even if the hearing loss was worsened by pre-existing conditions, prior employment, or the natural aging process.”
 
The letter concludes: “However, under the LHWCA, there is no effective post-exposure or post-employment statute of limitations for filing a claim for this condition… More than 37 percent of hearing loss claims are filed by and paid to claimants who are 70 years of age and older… Given the concerns that these conditions put the onus on taxpayers to bear the costs of hearing loss claims… How many LHWCA claims have been filed annually for the past five years and for what types of injuries, including those related to hearing loss? What are the age and other demographic characteristics of these claimants? … What is the incidence of fraud in LHWCA claims, what steps does OWCP take to ensure that claims are related to workplace injury, and what additional steps, if any, should OWCP take to reduce fraud?”
 
Read the full letter here.

###