Which card covers what.
- The White Card covers the conditions the Department of Labor has accepted on your EEOICPA claim — treatment, medications, equipment, and home health for those conditions, with no copays, no deductibles, and no cost to you.
- Medicare covers everything else — the conditions that have nothing to do with your work exposure.
Think of it by condition, not by person: each diagnosis has a home. Accepted condition → White Card. Everything else → Medicare.
The expensive mistake: paying Medicare copays the White Card should cover.
Many patients run their cancer treatment, medications, or equipment through Medicare — and pay copays — when those costs relate to an accepted condition and belong on the White Card at no cost to you.
A chemotherapy support drug at $200 a month. A hospital bed at $150 a month. Oxygen. If it treats an accepted condition, the White Card should be billed, and your out-of-pocket cost should be zero. If you are paying for anything connected to your accepted illness, that is usually fixable — ask your providers to bill the White Card, or ask us to review it.
Common questions.
Will using the White Card reduce my Medicare benefits?
No. The two programs operate independently. Using the White Card for accepted conditions leaves your Medicare exactly as it is for everything else.
What if a condition is related but not yet accepted?
A new problem caused by an accepted condition or its treatment can be added to your card as a consequential condition. Once accepted, its care moves to the White Card too. How consequential conditions work →
Who do I ask about a specific bill?
The DOL’s billing administrator answers coverage questions at (800) 736-6001. For anything about your home health, ask us.
Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, DEEOIC · Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. General information, not a coverage determination.