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of Columbia, the United States Park Police force, the Execu

2 tive Protective Service, or the United States Secret Service

3 who

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(1) retires after the date of enactment of this Act

under subsection (g) of the Policemen and Firemen's Retirement and Disability Act (D.C. Code, sec. 4-527 (g)) (relating to retirement for disability); and

(2) at the time of such retirement, has a disability caused by injury or disease contracted or aggravated in the line of duty, which is determined by, or under regulations of, the Commissioner of the District of Columbia

(hereafter in this Act referred to as the "Commis

sioner") to be a total disability.

(b) No payment may be made under this Act for medi

15 cal, surgical, hospital, or other related health care services

16 provided a retired officer or member unless—

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(1) at the time such services are provided the disability of the retired officer or member has been deter

mined by, or under regulations of, the Commissioner to be a total disability;

(2) such services have been determined by, or

22 under regulations of, the Commissioner to be necessary

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and directly related to the treatment of the injury or

24 disease which caused the disability of the retired officer

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or member; and

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(3) the retired officer or member submits to such medical examinations as the Commissioner may require.

(c) The Commissioner may determine that the dis4 ability of a retired officer or member is a total disability only 5 if the Commissioner finds that the retired officer or member 6 is unable (because of the injury or disease causing his dis7 ability) to secure or follow substantially gainful employ8 ment. In determining whether employment is substantially 9 gainful employment the Commissioner shall take into account 10 the amount of expenses incurred by, or which can reason11 ably be expected to be incurred by, the retired officer or 12 member in securing the medical, surgical, hospital, or other 13 related health care services necessitated by his disability, 14 and such other factors as the Commissioner deems advisable. 15 (d) In addition to any medical examination required 16 under the Policemen and Firemen's Retirement and Dis17 ability Act, the Commissioner shall require, in each year 18 that payments under this Act are made with respect to any 19 retired officer or member, a medical review of the disability 20 of such retired officer or member.

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(e) The Commissioner may provide for payments under 22 this Act to be made either directly to the retired officer or

23 member or to the provider of the medical, surgical, hospital,

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1 SEC. 2. The Commissioner shall prescribe such regula

2 tions as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this 3 Act.

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SEC. 3. There are authorized to be appropriated from revenues of the United States such sums as may be necessary 6 to reimburse the District of Columbia, on a monthly basis, 7 for payments made under this Act from revenues of the 8 District of Columbia in the case of retired officers or mem9 bers of the United States Park Police force, the Executive 10 Protective Service, or the United States Secret Service.

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SEC. 4. This Aot shall take effect on the first day of the 12 first month which begins more than thirty days after the date 13 of enactment of this Act.

Passed the House of Representatives June 14, 1971.

Attest:

W. PAT JENNINGS,

Clerk.

THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,
Washington, D.C., June 23, 1971.

Hon. THOMAS F. EAGLETON,

Chairman, Committee on the District of Columbia,

U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.

DEAR SENATOR EAGLETON: The Commissioner of the District of Columbia has for report S. 1348 and H.R. 8794, similar bills which would provide for the payment of medical or surgical services or hospital treatment for certain disabled former members of the Metropolitan Police Department, the Fire Department of the District of Columbia, the United States Park Police force, the Executive Protective Service, and the United States Secret Service Division. H.R. 8794 was passed by the House of Representatives on June 14, 1971. Both bills are substantially similar to legislation submitted to the Congress by the Commissioner on January 26, 1971.

Subsection (e) of the Policemen and Firemen's Retirement and Disability Act, as added August 21, 1957 (71 Stat. 394; D.C. Code, sec. 4-525), provides:

"Whenever any member [of the Metropolitan Police force, the Fire Department of the District of Columbia, the United States Park Police force, or the Executive Protective Service, or any one of certain members of the Secret Service Division] shall become temporarily disabled by injury received or disease contacted in the performance of duty, to such an extent as to require medical or surgical services, other than such as can be rendered by the Commissioners, or to require hospital treatment, the expense of such medical or surgical services, or hospital treatment, shall be paid by the District of Columbia; but no such expense shall be paid except upon a certificate of the Commissioners setting forth the necessity for such services or treatment and the nature of the injury or disease which rendered the same necessary." [Bracketed language added.]

The functions vested in the former Board of Commissioners by this section were transferred to the Commissioner of the District of Columbia by section 401 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967.

There is, however, no comparable provision of law authorizing the payment for medical or surgical services, or hospital treatment for police or firemen who have retired for disabilities incurred in performance of duty. Public Law 90291, approved April 19, 1968, does provide for payment of medical expenses, after retirement, for law enforcement officers not employed by the United States who receive disabling injuries while apprehending persons suspected of committing Federal crimes. This legislation, however, is not applicable to all disabling injuries sustained by Metropolitan policemen, members of the Park Police, Executive Protective Service, or U.S. Secret Service Division, nor is it applicable to District of Columbia firemen.

Presently, most Federal and District of Columbia employees are covered by provisions of chapter 81 of title 5 of the United States Code, relating to compensation for work injuries, and by section 8337 of such title, relating to disability retirement. Pursuant to these provisions, a Federal or District employee other than policemen and firemen disabled in the performance of duty can be retired for such disability and after retirement receive medical treatments for such disability at government expense.

S. 1348 and H.R. 8794 would apply to the infrequent case of a policeman or fireman retired after its effective date whose disability is determined by the Commissioner to be total at the time of retirement. The individual's disability at the time of retirement would have to be of such a nature as to prohibit him from any employment at that time. H.R. 8794 specifies that the individual's disability would have to be of such a nature as to prohibit him from securing "substantially gainful employment". The bills would authorize payment of the expenses of medical or surgical services, or hospital treatment, which either can be rendered by the Commissioner or approved by him to be rendered by others. The legislation authorizes appropriations for this purpose.

Currently there are only two individuals employed by the District Government who would benefit by the enactment of the proposed legislation, Metropolitan policeman Charles Allen and District fireman Hunter Vaughn, both of whom are totally disabled due to line of duty conditions but have not been retired in order to spare them the costs of their required care. The District has been paying their medical, surgical, and hospital expenses for some time under the above-cited authority. However, since present law relates to payments for temporary disability, the medical expenses of these members cannot be con

tinued indefinitely nor can these disabled members be carried on the rolls of the Departments indefinitely.

The Commissioner believes that the District is obligated, from a humanitarian standpoint, to men such as Allen and Vaughn to continue to pay their medical expenses after retirement. Policemen and firemen who become totally disabled from service-connected injuries or diseases and are retired for such disabilities should no more be burdened with the cost of their care after retirement than before.

As technical matters, the Commissioner wishes to point out that S. 1348, the citation quoted in line 1 on page 2 of the bill should be "(71 Stat. 394)", rather than "(71 Stat. 718)", and that "Executive Protective Service" is the correct title of the Service, not "Executive Protection Service".

The Commissioner of the District of Columbia recommends enactment of either S. 1348 or H.R. 8794.

Sincerely yours,

GRAHAM W. WATT,

Assistant to the Commissioner. For: WALTER E. WASHINGTON, Commissioner.

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