A bill slated for hearing this week drastically expands presumptive occupational diseases for heart conditions in firefighters. AWC has concerns about the expansion and that it will raise workers’ compensation costs and potentially capture conditions that were not necessarily work-related.
Under current law, if a firefighter has heart problems that are experienced within 72 hours exposure to smoke, fumes, or toxic substances, or heart problems experienced within 24 hours of strenuous physical exertion from firefighting, it is a presumptive occupational disease. A presumptive occupational disease allows a worker to file a workers’ compensation claim for a health condition without having to prove that the condition was work related.
HB 1571, sponsored by Rep. Dan Bronoske (D–Lakewood), would change that by deleting the requirements of exposure to toxics and physical exertion from firefighting from the presumption. Under the bill, any heart problem in a firefighter would be presumed to be an occupational disease for workers’ compensation. If a city objected to a claim, they would have to rebut the presumption by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning they would have to prove that more likely than not the heart condition was not work related.
AWC has concerns. Presumptive occupational diseases should be reserved for situations where it is obvious that a condition was most likely work-related and it would be waste of time and resources to make an employee prove it was. However, heart conditions generally are common and can arise at any time from any number of factors that are not job related. If a presumption is to apply to heart conditions in firefighters, it should be for those cases that are clearly due to their job: times when they are exposed to toxic environments or when they have been strenuously fighting fire. A lack of a presumption for other heart problems outside those obvious cases does not preclude a firefighter from filing a claim, they simply must prove that their condition likely arose from work – which is appropriate in circumstances where a disease could have many causes.
Workers’ compensation rates for firefighters have skyrocketed by 46% in the last three years, largely due to presumptive occupational disease claims. Expanding presumptive occupational diseases would likely result in even higher rate increases in the future.
Dates to remember
HB 1571 is scheduled for a hearing in the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee on February 5 at 8 am.