HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Lax oversight of the U.S. government's workers' compensation insurance program for its contractors and subcontractors in Afghanistan has resulted in the loss of tens of millions of dollars and workers going without the required insurance in often hazardous conditions, an audit released Thursday found.
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction found numerous problems after a contracting officer for the Montana National Guard raised the alarm last year about the DBA program, named after the Defense Base Act of 1941 that requires the insurance for overseas contractors.
"The U.S. government has paid millions — perhaps hundreds of millions — of insurance premium dollars … and has received little or nothing in return," Maj. Brad Willcockson wrote in his October letter to Sen. Jon Tester of Montana.
The Defense Base Act requires contractors and subcontractors to provide insurance for their workers in the event they are injured or killed while working for the government, particularly in dangerous environments such as Afghanistan. The government reimburses those contractors for the cost of the premiums.
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