The Army Corps of Engineers said that despite major insurer opposition, it is moving ahead with a pilot program to have carriers bid to be the sole provider of death and injury coverage for contractors in Iraq and elsewhere overseas.

As the Corps envisions it, the program would create a new system for providing the workers' compensation coverage that contractors must carry under the Defense Base Act (DBA). That program requires the government to reimburse insurers for death or injury claims that are the result of war hazards and not work-caused.

A representative for the Corps, Gene Pawlick, said the pilot effort==with request-for-bid proposals due on July 6==was developed because there were "questions of overall program costs," which have been soaring.

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