A bill to update how Maryland calculates hearing loss for workers’ compensation benefits has passed both chambers, amended and narrowed.

HB 669/SB 843 – Workers’ Compensation- Benefits- Hearing Loss, as introduced, sought to expand existing eligibility for workers’ compensation related to hearing loss to include tinnitus as a presumption eligible for workers’ compensation benefits and to reform the current calculations of severity of hearing loss for the purpose of benefits calculations. The current calculations include common-sense age-based deductions to account for natural, age-induced hearing loss; this bill would negate that.

During the legislative process, both versions of the bill were amended to remove the tinnitus presumption, alleviating some financial implications and concerns for county governments as employers are subject to workers’ compensation hearing loss claims. However, as amended, the bills maintain the proposed changes to benefit calculations. Under the amended version, not only would benefit claims likely increase to a broader pool of workers’ compensation candidates for lifetime claims, but employers would also no longer be able to fairly adjust for natural, age-induced hearing loss, significantly increasing the costliness of such claims – which are many. To put this into perspective, on average, one Maryland county receives 5-6 workers’ compensation claims related to hearing loss per week.

Considering the bill’s original posture, the amended version is significantly narrowed and lessens the overall financial burden its passage would present for counties.

HB 669 and SB 843 passed their respective chambers with the amendments noted here in time for the Crossover deadline on March 18.