Washington, D.C. - Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a bill to provide rehired annuitant physicians eligibility to receive a Physicians Comparability Allowance (PCA) and Physicians Special Pay (PSP) under Title 38. This bill would aid in the recruitment and retention of qualified physicians to the federal workforce.
The PCA and PSP are both mechanisms by which federal agencies can provide physicians allowances when these agencies are experiencing recruitment and retention problems. Currently, civilian rehired annuitant physicians are prohibited by law from receiving these benefits. However, retired military that join the civilian federal workforce are currently not subject to an exclusion from the PSP and PCA.
We are all aware of the possibilities of a shortage of federal employees due to an aging federal workforce. We must begin now to ensure that we have available pools of talent to replace the current workforce. We must make the Federal Government a viable option for talented and committed Americans. This legislation will provide additional flexibility and authority for attracting and retaining experienced physicians to the federal government.
This issue was brought to my attention by my constituent, Dr. Nancy Scher, who is a Medical Officer in the Division of Oncology Drug Products, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Scher is prohibited by law from receiving a PCA or PSP in her current position at the FDA because she is a reemployed civilian annuitant.
Dr. Scher spent twenty years as a part-time physician at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Huntington, West Virginia while also employed as a full-time Professor of Medicine at Marshall University. At the VA, Dr. Scher provided a high level of specialty medical care to veterans in a part of the country and at a time when this was a scarce resource. Because of her increasing duties as Chief of Hematology-Oncology at Marshall University, Dr. Scher took an early retirement from the VA with a deceased retirement benefit.
Dr. Scher is devoted to her craft and being denied PCA and PSP will not prevent her from continuing her position at the FDA. However, the law should be changed to make her eligible for these allowances. It would be a shame for the Federal Government not to give highly skilled and experienced physicians like Dr. Scher all the possible advantages available to stay in the federal workforce. The FDA currently pays a PCA and PSP to younger and less experienced physicians. Dr. Scher, as a rehired annuitant is prohibited from receiving these benefits.
Thousands of federal employees over the years have been responsible for breaking new ground in science and medicine. We must continue this tradition by ensuring that the Federal government becomes the employer of choice for scientific and medical talent.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.