Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 12— - COMPENSATION FOR INJURY, DEATH, OR DETENTION OF EMPLOYEES OF CONTRACTORS WITH UNITED STATES OUTSIDE UNITED STATES › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - COMPENSATION, REIMBURSEMENT, ETC., BY SECRETARY OF LABOR › § 1705
Stops people from getting duplicate government pay for the same injury or death. If someone already gets workers’ compensation under any other U.S. law, a state, a foreign country, or under a U.S.-approved contractor agreement, they cannot also get benefits under this law. The Secretary can place a lien and recover any payments made here from other workers’ compensation paid for the same injury. Money recovered must go into the fund under section 8147 of title 5. If a person covered by section 1701(a), or their dependent, gets wages, wage substitutes, or disability or death insurance that the United States pays in whole or in part, those amounts will be credited against payments under this law as the Secretary decides. If someone who already received benefits here later sues an employer, the United States, or another party for wages, payments in lieu of wages, services, transportation, contract damages, or similar sums for the same time period, the Secretary may intervene and recover up to the amount paid here, and recovered money goes into the fund under section 8147 of title 5. If a foreign national is entitled to benefits from another country for a war-risk hazard, this law does not apply. If a person is already getting workers’ compensation for a prior accident or disease when they suffer a war-risk injury, they cannot get benefits here for that same period unless the war-risk injury makes their disability worse; then they get benefits only for the extra disability.
Full Legal Text
The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
42 U.S.C. § 1705
Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73