20 CFR § 30.405 - After selecting a treating physician, may an employee choose to be treated by another physician instead?

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t20/s30.405"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "20 CFR § 30.405 - After selecting a treating physician, may an employee choose to be treated by another physician instead?"
title_number: 20
title_name: "Employees' Benefits"
section_number: "30.405"
section_name: "After selecting a treating physician, may an employee choose to be treated by another physician instead?"
chapter_name: "OFFICE OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION PROGRAMS, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR"
subchapter_number: "C"
subchapter_name: "ENERGY EMPLOYEES OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESS COMPENSATION PROGRAM ACT OF 2000"
part_number: "30"
part_name: "CLAIMS FOR COMPENSATION UNDER THE ENERGY EMPLOYEES OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESS COMPENSATION PROGRAM ACT OF 2000, AS AMENDED"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "5 U.S.C. 301; 31 U.S.C. 3716 and 3717; 42 U.S.C. 7384d, 7384t, 7384u and 7385s-10; Executive Order 13179, 65 FR 77487, 3 CFR, 2000 Comp., p. 321; Secretary of Labor's Order No. 10-2009, 74 FR 58834."
regulatory_source: "71 FR 78534, Dec. 29, 2006, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "30"
---


# 30.405 After selecting a treating physician, may an employee choose to be treated by another physician instead?

(a) OWCP will provide the employee with an opportunity to designate a treating physician when it accepts the claim. When the physician originally selected to provide treatment for an occupational illness or a covered illness refers the employee to a specialist for further medical care, the employee need not consult OWCP for approval. In all other instances, however, the employee must submit a written request to OWCP with his or her reasons for desiring a change of physician.

(b) OWCP will approve the request if it determines that the reasons submitted are credible and supported by probative factual and/or medical evidence, as appropriate. Requests that are often approved include those for transfer of care from a general practitioner to a physician who specializes in treating the occupational illnesses or covered illnesses covered by EEOICPA, or the need for a new physician when an employee has moved.

(c) OWCP may deny a requested change of physician if it determines that the reasons submitted are not both credible and supported by probative evidence. If a claimant disagrees with such an informal denial, he or she may utilize the adjudicatory process described in subpart D of this part.

[71 FR 78534, Dec. 29, 2006, as amended at 84 FR 3052, Feb. 8, 2019]