Federal workers gain access to nurse practitioners and physician assistants

What it does

This bill expands Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) coverage to include physician assistants and nurse practitioners as eligible providers for injured federal workers. Currently, FECA covers services by physicians, surgeons, and osteopathic practitioners; this amendment adds PAs and NPs operating within their state-defined scope of practice, and requires the Department of Labor to issue implementing regulations within 6 months.

Why we flagged it

The bill's sole operative mechanism is to expand the class of eligible medical providers under federal workers' compensation law. It is a straightforward eligibility amendment with no hidden provisions or narrow beneficiaries.

What the text implies

• Scope of practice varies by state; some states may define PA/NP scope more narrowly than others, creating potential geographic variation in coverage availability.
• The 6-month regulatory timeline may affect implementation speed; delays in DOL rulemaking could postpone actual access expansion.
• No explicit cost estimate provided; expansion of eligible providers may increase FECA claims costs, though magnitude is unclear from the bill text alone.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Injured federal workers gain expanded access to qualified medical providers (PAs and NPs) for treatment under existing workers' compensation, potentially reducing wait times and increasing care availability without restricting existing remedies. The bill does not cap benefits, reduce coverage, or shift costs to workers.

Named in the bill

Department of Labor, Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA), 5 U.S.C. Chapter 81, Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, Federal workers

Where it stands

17 cosponsors: 10 Republicans, 7 Democrats.

• May 1, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• May 1, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce”
• Jun 25, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Jun 25, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 34 - 0”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

15 lobbying clients named this bill on 24 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $8,922,702 in lobbying spend. A filing names 27 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 95% of bills with at least one filing.

Tim Walberg, the sponsor, reported $825,948 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• American Medical Association — $5,643,000 on 2 filings
• American Association of Nurse Practitioners — $950,000 on 2 filings
• International Association of Fire Fighters — $380,304 on 2 filings
• American Academy of Physician Associates — $320,000 on 2 filings
• American Academy of Otolaryngology-head and Neck Surgery — $286,331 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 22, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.