Worker screening · Nevada Test Site · EEOICPA

Had your free Test Site worker screening?

The screening tells you what you have. It does not tell you what it is worth. Former Department of Energy workers, including everyone who worked at the Nevada Test Site, can get a free occupational health screening. Thousands of Southern Nevadans have had one. Far fewer have taken the next step.

The screening

A federal program pays for it, and it is free to the worker.

The Worker Health Protection Program screens former Department of Energy workers for the conditions that site work is known to cause. In Southern Nevada it is run by Queens College of the City University of New York in partnership with UNLV. Screening is at no cost to the worker, workers can return for a re-screen, and those at elevated risk can be offered a low-dose CT scan for early lung cancer detection.

It is worth doing on its own terms. It is also the single most common way a former Test Site worker first learns that something is wrong.

What it is
An occupational health screening for former Department of Energy workers, including Nevada Test Site and Nevada National Security Site workers.
Cost
Free to the worker.
What it finds
Lung disease, hearing loss, kidney disease, beryllium sensitisation and other conditions associated with site work.
What it is not
It is not a claim, and it is not a benefit. A finding does not open anything by itself.
The step most people miss

A finding is evidence. A claim is what turns it into care.

A screening result that says your lungs are damaged is the beginning of an EEOICPA claim, not the end of a check-up. An accepted claim can pay compensation, and it opens a medical benefit for that condition — the White Card — which pays providers directly for the care it covers.

For a former Test Site worker who is starting to need help at home, that medical benefit is the part that matters. It has no lifetime dollar cap, and it covers skilled nursing and home health aide care when they are medically appropriate and authorized.

Part B
A lump sum of $150,000 and lifetime medical coverage for the accepted condition.
Part E
Compensation for whole-body impairment and for wage loss caused by the covered illness, up to a combined maximum of $250,000. Federal Department of Energy employees are not covered under Part E.
The White Card
The medical benefit that comes with an accepted claim. It pays providers directly for care tied to the accepted condition, at no cost to you.
Care at home
Skilled nursing and home health aide services when they are medically appropriate and authorized. There is no lifetime dollar cap on the medical benefit.

The Department of Labor decides every claim. Alara assesses the patient, coordinates the physician documentation and the home-health authorization, and provides the authorized care. It does not file claims and nothing here is a determination of eligibility.

What happens next

Bring what the screening found.

A case review asks where you worked, roughly when, and what a doctor has said about your health since. If a screening has already found something, that is the strongest thing you can bring to it.

Which conditions the White Card covers → The full Nevada Test Site guide →

Common questions

What people ask first.

Who pays for the former worker screening?

It is a federally funded program for former Department of Energy workers, and it is free to the worker. In Southern Nevada the Worker Health Protection Program is run by Queens College of the City University of New York in partnership with UNLV.

Does a screening finding mean my claim will be accepted?

No. A screening is medical evidence, not a determination. The Department of Labor decides whether an illness is covered and whether it is linked to covered work.

I was screened years ago and nothing came of it. Is it worth another look?

Often yes. Conditions progress, the program has expanded since it began, and a claim that was denied years ago can be reopened.

Start here

A nurse reads it, not a form.

A case review takes a few minutes and needs no records, no claim number and no appointment. Nothing here is a determination of eligibility.

White Card accepted conditions → Nevada Test Site White Card guide → Start a case review →