On February 28, 2024, Associate Policy Director Brianna January submitted a Letter of Information to the House Economic Matters Committee on HB 1145- Workers’ Compensation- Occupational Disease Presumptions- Hypertension. This bill would greatly alter existing workers’ compensation benefits for volunteer and paid firefighters experiencing hypertension by expanding eligibility and minimizing current requirements.
This year’s version of the bill has additional testing and prescription requirements before a hypertension diagnosis is eligible for compensation. However, counties continue to have concerns about establishing new workers’ compensation presumptions.
MACo has a long history of opposing establishing presumptions for workers’ compensation benefits. Public employers find themselves compensating for lifelong exposures where there is no material evidence to support the workplace as the origin of the illness. Courts have consistently ruled against employers on issues of presumptions, rendering these presumptions effectively irrebuttable. HB 1145 would contribute to that imbalance.
HB 1145’s cross-file, SB 844, was heard on March 5, 2024 in the Senate Finance Committee. Brianna January submitted a Letter of Information on this bill.
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