CA16 – This Authorization for Treatment and/or Evaluation is given to the patient by their supervisor when the patient has a CA1 injury (CA16’s are not given for CA2 claims). Patients must report their injury within 7 days of the DOI and supervisors must give it to the patient 4 hours after the request for the form is made.
The CA16 pays all injury-related medical bills for the patient for 60 days following the DOI until the injury claim is accepted. It can cover bills for medical evaluations, chiropractic care, physical therapy, surgery, MRI’s, pharmacy, and others. This form must originate with the agency and must be signed by the supervisor before it is valid and can be used by the patient.
If patients don’t have this form, doctors should still help them because injured employees have very a hard time obtaining this form from their supervisors. Once the patient’s injury claim is accepted, doctors can be paid for past treatment that occurred prior to acceptance. Trained OWCP doctors do not need to take money from injured federal employees.
Federal employees need help from expert, trained, and compliant doctors and staff who understand their unique needs, concerns, and struggles after they’re hurt at work. Work injuries may be inevitable, but losing is not. We have the power to help them. Federal employees make this country go. When they break, we have to fix them.