Certain words and phrases found in this part are defined in this section or in the FECA. Some other words and phrases that are used only in limited situations are defined in the later subparts of the regulations in this subchapter.
(a) Benefits or Compensation in the regulations in this subchapter means Compensation as defined by the FECA at 5 U.S.C. 8101(12), which is the money OWCP pays to or on behalf of a beneficiary from the Employees' Compensation Fund. The terms Benefits and Compensation include payments for lost wages, loss of wage-earning capacity, and permanent physical impairment. The terms Benefits and Compensation also include the money paid to beneficiaries for an employee's death, including both death benefits and any death gratuity benefit. These two terms also include any other amounts paid out of the Employees' Compensation Fund for such things as medical treatment, medical examinations conducted at the request of OWCP as part of the claims adjudication process, vocational rehabilitation services under 5 U.S.C. 8111, services of an attendant and funeral expenses under 5 U.S.C. 8134, but do not include continuation of pay as provided by 5 U.S.C. 8118.
(b) Beneficiary means an individual who is entitled to a benefit under the FECA and this part.
(c) Claim means a written assertion of an individual's entitlement to benefits under the FECA, submitted in a manner authorized by this part.
(d) Claimant means an individual whose claim has been filed.
(e) Director means the Director of OWCP or a person designated to carry out his or her functions.
(f) Disability means the incapacity, because of an employment injury, to earn the wages the employee was receiving at the time of injury. It may be partial or total.
(g) Earnings from employment or self-employment means:
(1) Gross earnings or wages before any deductions and includes the value of subsistence, quarters, reimbursed expenses and any other goods or services received in kind as remuneration; or
(2) A reasonable estimate of the cost to have someone else perform the duties of an individual who accepts no remuneration. Neither lack of profits, nor the characterization of the duties as a hobby, removes an unremunerated individual's responsibility to report the estimated cost to have someone else perform his or her duties.
(h) Employee means, but is not limited to, an individual who fits within one of the following listed groups:
(1) A civil officer or employee in any branch of the Government of the United States, including an officer or employee of an instrumentality wholly owned by the United States pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 8101(1)(A);
(2) An individual rendering personal service to the United States similar to the service of a civil officer or employee of the United States, without pay or for nominal pay, when a statute authorizes the acceptance or use of the service, or authorizes payment of travel or other expenses of the individual pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 8101(1)(B);
(3) An individual, other than an independent contractor or an individual employed by an independent contractor, employed on the Menominee Indian Reservation in Wisconsin in operations conducted under a statute relating to Tribal timber and logging operations on that reservation pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 8101(1)(C);
(4) An individual appointed to a position on the office staff of a former President under section 1(b) of the Act of August 25, 1958 (72 Stat. 838) pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 8101(1)(E); or
(5) An individual selected and serving as a Federal petit or grand juror pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 8101(1)(F).
(i) Employer or Agency means any civil agency or instrumentality of the United States Government, or any other organization, group or institution employing an individual defined as an “employee” by this section. These terms also refer to officers and employees of an employer having responsibility for the supervision, direction or control of employees of that employer as an “immediate superior,” and to other employees designated by the employer to carry out the functions vested in the employer under the FECA and this part, including officers or employees delegated responsibility by an employer for authorizing medical treatment for injured employees.
(j) Entitlement means entitlement to benefits as determined by OWCP under the FECA and the procedures described in this part.
(k) FECA means the Federal Employees' Compensation Act, as amended.
(l) Hospital services means services and supplies provided by hospitals within the scope of their practice as defined by State law.
(m) Impairment means any anatomic or functional abnormality or loss. A permanent impairment is any such abnormality or loss after maximum medical improvement has been achieved.
(n) Knowingly means with knowledge, consciously, willfully or intentionally.
(o) Medical services means services and supplies provided by or under the supervision of a physician. Reimbursable chiropractic services are limited to physical examinations (and related laboratory tests), x-rays performed to diagnose a subluxation of the spine and treatment consisting of manual manipulation of the spine to correct a subluxation.
(p) Medical support services means services, drugs, supplies and appliances provided by a person other than a physician or hospital.
(q) Occupational disease or illness means a condition produced by the work environment over a period longer than a single workday or shift.
(r) OWCP means the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs.
(s) Pay rate for compensation purposes means the employee's pay, as determined under 5 U.S.C. 8114, at the time of injury, the time disability begins or the time compensable disability recurs if the recurrence begins more than six months after the injured employee resumes regular full-time employment with the United States, whichever is greater, except as otherwise determined under 5 U.S.C. 8113 with respect to any period.
(t) Physician means an individual defined as such in 5 U.S.C. 8101(2), except during the period for which his or her license to practice medicine has been suspended or revoked by a State licensing or regulatory authority.
(u) Qualified hospital means any hospital licensed as such under State law which has not been excluded under the provisions of subpart I of this part. Except as otherwise provided by regulation, a qualified hospital shall be deemed to be designated or approved by OWCP.
(v) Qualified physician means any physician who has not been excluded under the provisions of subpart I of this part. Except as otherwise provided by regulation, a qualified physician shall be deemed to be designated or approved by OWCP.
(w) Qualified provider of medical support services or supplies means any person, other than a physician or a hospital, who provides services, drugs, supplies and appliances for which OWCP makes payment, who possesses any applicable licenses required under State law, and who has not been excluded under the provisions of subpart I of this part.
(x) Recurrence of disability means an inability to work after an employee has returned to work, caused by a spontaneous change in a medical condition which had resulted from a previous injury or illness without an intervening injury or new exposure to the work environment that caused the illness. This term also means an inability to work that takes place when a light-duty assignment made specifically to accommodate an employee's physical limitations due to his or her work-related injury or illness is withdrawn or when the physical requirements of such an assignment are altered so that they exceed his or her established physical limitations. A recurrence of disability does not apply when a light-duty assignment is withdrawn for reasons of misconduct, non-performance of job duties or other downsizing or where a loss of wage-earning capacity determination as provided by 5 U.S.C. 8115 is in place.
(y) Recurrence of medical condition means a documented need for further medical treatment after release from treatment for the accepted condition or injury when there is no accompanying work stoppage. Continuous treatment for the original condition or injury is not considered a “need for further medical treatment after release from treatment,” nor is an examination without treatment.
(z) Representative means an individual or law firm properly authorized by a claimant in writing to act for the claimant in connection with a claim or proceeding under the FECA or this part.
(aa) Student means an individual defined at 5 U.S.C. 8101(17). Two terms used in that particular definition are further defined as follows:
(1) Additional type of educational or training institution means a technical, trade, vocational, business or professional school accredited or licensed by the United States Government or a State Government or any political subdivision thereof providing courses of not less than three months duration, that prepares the individual for a livelihood in a trade, industry, vocation or profession.
(2) Year beyond the high school level means:
(i) The 12-month period beginning the month after the individual graduates from high school, provided he or she had indicated an intention to continue schooling within four months of high school graduation, and each successive 12-month period in which there is school attendance or the payment of compensation based on such attendance; or
(ii) If the individual has indicated that he or she will not continue schooling within four months of high school graduation, the 12-month period beginning with the month that the individual enters school to continue his or her education, and each successive 12-month period in which there is school attendance or the payment of compensation based on such attendance.
(bb) Subluxation means an incomplete dislocation, off-centering, misalignment, fixation or abnormal spacing of the vertebrae which must be demonstrable on any x-ray film to an individual trained in the reading of x-rays.
(cc) Surviving spouse means the husband or wife living with or dependent for support upon a deceased employee at the time of his or her death, or living apart for reasonable cause or because of the deceased employee's desertion, unless otherwise defined under the FECA for the specific benefit such as the FECA death gratuity at 5 U.S.C. 8102a.
(dd) Temporary aggravation of a pre-existing condition means that factors of employment have directly caused that condition to be more severe for a limited period of time and have left no greater impairment than existed prior to the employment injury.
(ee) Traumatic injury means a condition of the body caused by a specific event or incident, or series of events or incidents, within a single workday or shift. Such condition must be caused by external force, including stress or strain, which is identifiable as to time and place of occurrence and member or function of the body affected.