Your White Card can cover home health when an accepted condition makes care at home medically necessary.
The White Card is not a home-health plan by itself. It identifies conditions the Department of Labor has accepted under EEOICPA. Home health is then based on what those conditions are doing to your health and function, what your physician orders, and what DOL authorizes.
Already have a White Card? Start here. Don’t have one yet? We’ll show you the other path →
Could the White Card apply to you?
Two taps, no forms, nothing saved. This is general information, not a determination of your eligibility.
The medical story has to connect from the accepted condition to the care you need at home.
Five things have to line up. Here is each one, and who decides it.
We provide the home health and keep the clinical side of the process connected.
Alara is a nurse-owned home health agency serving Clark and Nye Counties, including Pahrump. We provide skilled nursing, home health aides, therapy, and medical social work when those services are ordered, medically appropriate, and authorized.
For White Card patients, we also pay close attention to accepted-condition linkage, changes in function, physician communication, and the documentation that supports ongoing home-health needs. We are enrolled with the Department of Labor’s billing system (WCMBP) and accept the card directly.
Alara does not determine eligibility, accept conditions, or approve hours. Those decisions belong to the Department of Labor. Our role is to assess, document, coordinate with the treating clinicians, and deliver the authorized home-health care.
Have a benefit question we have not answered?
The DOL’s billing administrator, Acentra, answers benefit and coverage questions directly at (866) 272-2682. For anything about your home health care, reach Alara at (702) 814-9630.
Who is who in your claim.
Five names come up constantly. Here is what each one decides, so the letters stop being confusing.
A White Card case is not static just because the card was issued years ago.
People with occupational illness may become less steady, need more help with daily activities, develop treatment-related problems, or have new conditions that may be consequential to an accepted illness. Those changes should be evaluated clinically rather than reconstructed months later from memory.
Understanding consequential conditions · Complex White Card care · How your hours are set
The benefits most people never claim.
These are real, they are yours if they apply, and almost no one claims all of them.
Each one ends with the exact step to take. You can act on most of these yourself, today, without speaking to anyone.
Travel reimbursement (form OWCP-957)
Every trip to a doctor, specialist, hospital, lab, or pharmacy for an accepted condition is reimbursable at the federal mileage rate. A patient going to oncology twice a week and the pharmacy weekly can leave hundreds of dollars a month unclaimed.
A family member can be paid to provide your care
If a spouse, son, or daughter already helps you bathe, dress, cook, or get to appointments, they may be employed and paid for that care through your White Card. If they meet Nevada qualification requirements and the care is authorized, they may be employed through the agency and paid for approved care.
You may be paying Medicare copays the White Card should cover
Many patients run their cancer treatment, medications, or equipment through Medicare and pay copays, when the White Card should cover those, related to an accepted condition, at no cost to you. A chemotherapy support drug at $200 a month, or a hospital bed at $150 a month, may already be covered.
An updated impairment rating
The DOL pays additional lump-sum compensation based on a physician’s impairment rating. If your condition has worsened since your original claim, a re-evaluation may entitle you to more.
Survivor benefits
When a covered worker dies from an accepted condition, the surviving spouse and eligible children may be entitled to compensation. Many widows of Test Site workers never learn this.
What the White Card covers at home.
For the conditions accepted under your claim, the card covers skilled care in your own home, at no cost to you:
- Skilled nursing: assessment, wound care, medication management, disease management, and more.
- Physical therapy: strength, mobility, and balance, toward your own goals.
- Occupational therapy: returning to daily activities safely and independently.
- Medical social work: connecting you to resources and identifying the benefits you may be missing.
- Home health aide services: personal care under nursing supervision.
- Caregiver training: if a family member helps care for you, formal training is covered as part of the plan of care.
Beyond home health, your benefits can also include prescription medications, durable medical equipment (hospital beds, wheelchairs, walkers, oxygen), medically necessary home safety modifications such as grab bars and ramps, travel reimbursement, and diagnostic and specialist visits, all tied to your accepted conditions.
One correction worth thousands of dollars: home health is not only for after a hospital stay. If a physician orders it and it relates to an accepted condition, it is covered any time, ongoing, for as long as it is medically necessary. And the hours are not fixed: see how your care hours are set, and how they can grow →
What the White Card can be worth.
Beyond the home health it pays for, EEOICPA can include one-time and ongoing compensation. The Department of Labor sets the amounts and they depend on your claim; these are the program figures, for context.
A one-time, tax-free lump sum for an accepted covered illness, plus lifetime medical benefits.
For illness tied to toxic exposure: impairment and wage-loss compensation, on top of medical benefits.
Part E pays $2,500 for each percentage point of whole-body impairment. If your condition worsens, a re-rating can add more.
Eligible survivors of a worker who died from an accepted condition may receive compensation of their own.
Combined, EEOICPA can reach up to $400,000 in tax-free compensation. Only the Department of Labor determines your amount.
How the parts can stack — an illustration
Say a worker has an accepted Part B cancer, and an accepted Part E toxic-exposure condition rated at 20% whole-body impairment. Here is how the pieces add together:
Illustrative only, to show how the parts combine. Part E can also pay wage-loss compensation, and eligible survivors may have a claim of their own, so an actual case can differ in both directions. Only the Department of Labor determines your amounts. Try the illustrative impairment estimator →
Consequential conditions: the single biggest missed benefit.
A consequential condition is a new problem that develops because of your accepted illness or its treatment. Once the DOL accepts it, it is added to your White Card and all care for it is covered at no cost to you. Most patients, and most physicians, have never heard of this.
The new problem can be physical or mental, and which ones apply is specific to you and your diagnosis, which is exactly why it gets overlooked. What matters is the pattern: if something new has appeared since your accepted illness or its treatment, it may be addable. The way to find out is to raise it.
How it gets added, step by step
- A nurse identifies and documents a finding, for example new numbness since chemotherapy, or a positive depression screen.
- Your physician documents the causal link between your accepted condition or its treatment and the new condition.
- The agency submits an EN-28 (Request to Add a Consequential Condition) to Acentra, the DOL’s medical billing administrator, with the physician’s documentation and the clinical screening.
- DEEOIC reviews. If accepted, the condition is added to your White Card.
- The authorization and plan of care are updated, and care for the new condition is now covered.
Don’t have a White Card yet? That is a different, longer path.
Almost everything above is for people who already have a card and can use it now. Getting a card is a separate process, and a longer one, but it is worth starting, even if you were denied before. The program has expanded over the years, adding covered conditions and exposure categories, so a past denial is not permanent.
You file with the Department of Labor: Form EE-1 as the worker, or Form EE-2 as a survivor. When a condition is accepted, you receive the White Card for covered medical care.
You never pay anyone a percentage. Two no-cost resources exist specifically to help:
DOL Las Vegas Resource Center
(702) 697-0841
The primary, no-cost navigation resource for Test Site workers in Southern Nevada. They help with filing, benefit questions, and provider connections at no charge. If you think you may qualify, start here.
An Authorized Representative who specializes in EEOICPA can also file and manage the claim for you. Alara does not file initial claims, that is the role of Authorized Representatives and the Resource Center, but we will tell you honestly what your options look like and point you to the right people.
Not sure whether your case is worth pursuing? Start a case review. A nurse reads your worksite, your work, and your illness together and tells you whether the White Card can be opened, then points you to the free help to file and provides the care it covers.
The White Card and Medicare. You can have both.
The White Card is not Medicare and does not affect it. The White Card covers your accepted EEOICPA conditions; Medicare covers everything else. Many patients use both, White Card home health for the occupational illness and Medicare for other conditions, so every part of their health is covered. Having one does not cancel the other.
Common questions.
Does the White Card cover home health care?
Yes. Benefits include skilled nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, medical social work, and home health aide services for accepted conditions, at no cost to you.
Do I pay anything for White Card home health?
No. There are no copays, deductibles, or out-of-pocket costs for covered services. The Department of Labor pays your provider directly.
What is a consequential condition?
A new condition that is a consequence of your accepted EEOICPA condition or its treatment. Once the DOL accepts it, it is added to your White Card and covered. Examples include depression secondary to cancer, or diabetes caused by steroid treatment for beryllium disease.
Can I use the White Card and Medicare at the same time?
Yes. The White Card covers your accepted EEOICPA conditions; Medicare covers other conditions. They work alongside each other and do not cancel each other out.
What if I was denied EEOICPA benefits before?
A previous denial is not permanent. The program has expanded its covered conditions and exposure categories over the years. Contact the DOL Las Vegas Resource Center at (702) 697-0841 about reapplying.
What is the EEOICPA White Card?
The White Card identifies conditions DOL has accepted under EEOICPA and is used for covered medical benefits related to those accepted conditions.
Does Alara decide how many hours I receive?
No. Alara assesses and documents the home-health need and coordinates relevant clinical information with the treating physician. DOL makes the authorization decision.
Can I get reimbursed for travel to appointments?
Yes. Travel to appointments related to your accepted conditions is reimbursable at the federal mileage rate. File form OWCP-957 with DEEOIC; you can claim past trips.
Reviewed by Alara’s Director of Nursing, RN. Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation (DEEOIC), dol.gov/agencies/owcp/energy. General information, not a determination of your eligibility or coverage. Your accepted conditions, your physician, and the Department of Labor determine what applies to your claim.