Presumption for Healthcare Workers not passed in Committee
California workers’ compensation law creates presumptions for first responders that certain injuries or illnesses are work-related, making it easier for these everyday heroes to claim workers’ compensation benefits for these conditions. Last year a California assemblymember introduced a bill to create similar presumptions to another group of heroes – registered nurses and other frontline workers in acute care hospitals. Unfortunately, this bill did not receive a hearing and was not passed in committee.
Below we discuss what this bill would have done for healthcare workers had it passed. It’s important to know that healthcare workers are still fully covered under California workers’ compensation law. It’s just that claims involving certain conditions can be more difficult to pursue and prove, often requiring skilled legal assistance. If you are a healthcare professional injured on the job in Orange County or the Inland Empire, contact Invictus Law, P.C., for help from a team of experienced and successful Southern California healthcare employee workers’ compensation lawyers.
Assembly Bill 1156: History and Status
Assembly Bill 1156, aka AB 1156, was introduced in the California Assembly on February 16, 2023, near the start of the 2023-2024 biennial legislative session. It had its first reading in the lower house and was referred to the Committee on Insurance on March 2, where it was never heard from again. The bill’s author was Mia Bonta of Alameda, located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area.
AB 1156 did not pass on January 31, 2024, pursuant to Article IV, Section 10(c) of the California Constitution, which requires that “Any bill introduced during the first year of the biennium of the legislative session that has not been passed by the house of origin by January 31 of the second calendar year of the biennium may no longer be acted on by the house.”
The defunct bill was filed with the Chief Clerk the next day according to Joint Rule 56. This rule states that “Bills introduced in the first year of the regular session and passed by the house of origin on or before the January 31st constitutional deadline are “carryover bills.” Immediately after January 31, bills introduced in the first year of the regular session that do not become “carryover bills” shall be returned to the Chief Clerk of the Assembly or Secretary of the Senate, respectively.”
The Presumptions for Healthcare Workers That Might Have Been
Healthcare workers, like other employees in California, are covered by workers’ compensation for an injury or illness that occurs on the job or is otherwise work-related. AB 1156 would have defined “injury” for hospital employees who provide direct patient care in an acute care hospital to specifically include infectious diseases, cancer, musculoskeletal injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder, and respiratory diseases.
In each category of injury, the bill would have created a presumption that the injury was work-related. The presumption was rebuttable, meaning it could be overcome by the employer or insurance carrier by producing evidence that the injury was not work-related. Even so, creating a rebuttable presumption enables covered employees to bypass the initial hurdle of providing evidence of their own that the injury is work-related. A presumption shifts the burden to the employer to prove the injury is not work-related.
The presumption that a particular injury arose out of and in the course of employment was to be granted when the injury manifests in a current employee or a former employee for a period of time after termination. Here is a breakdown of the categories of injury, what was included, and the time period for the presumption:
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Infectious Disease – The presumption would extend for three months per year of employment up to 60 months, except for MRSA cases, where the presumption would extend for 90 days. The definition of infectious disease would have specifically included Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus skin infection (MRSA), bloodborne infections diseases, tuberculosis, meningitis, and Covid.
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Carcinogens – The presumption was drafted to last past termination for three months per year of employment up to 120 months total. The bill identified a long list of covered cancers, including liver cancer, myeloid leukemia, kidney cancer, multiple myeloma, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, thyroid cancer, and many others.
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Musculoskeletal Disorders – The presumption was set to last for three months per year of employment up to 60 months and to include injuries to muscles, tendons, ligaments, bursae, peripheral nerves, joints, bones, and blood vessels.
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PTSD – Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was included in the definition of injury for healthcare workers entitled to the work-related presumption, provided the disorder was diagnosed by a mental health professional and manifested during employment or up to 36 months after termination, accumulated at the rate of three months per year of employment.
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Respiratory Diseases – The presumption for these illnesses, defined specifically to include asthma or Covid, was to last up to 120 months after termination of employment, according to the three months/per year of employment formula.
About the Presumption for Covid
As noted, AB 1156 specifically included COVID-19 and its variants in the definition of injury for both infectious and respiratory diseases. Statistics show 189,081 confirmed Covid cases in nurses and healthcare workers as of January 11, 2023. The pandemic is over, but Covid is not going away. It continues to rear its ugly head every cold and flu season, and its many variants continue to cause concerns; the illness is more severe and more easily transmissible in some years compared to others.
The bill’s precatory language notes that an immeasurable number of nurses are asymptomatic yet working without personal protective equipment or priority testing that should be provided to them as essential workers. Frontline nurses, the bill explained, are exposed to the highest risk of infection and are in daily danger of direct exposure to infectious diseases.
The Gender Gap in Workers’ Compensation Presumptions
In California, firefighters, police officers, and first responders are entitled to presumptions of work-related disability very similar to what AB 1156 attempted to offer healthcare workers. For instance, firefighters who develop cancer, heart trouble, or an infectious disease are entitled to a rebuttable presumption that the injury was work-related. They also get their full salary for one year if unable to return to work, compared to two-thirds of average weekly wages for other workers on disability.
Police officers, likewise, are entitled to a rebuttable presumption that cancer, meningitis, pneumonia, Lyme disease, hernias, heart conditions, back injuries, exposure to harmful chemicals, and more was work-related. Covered police officers get their full salary for line-of-duty injuries for one year and workers’ comp after that if they are unable to return to work. These benefits are known as 4850 benefits after Section 4850 of the labor code where this benefit is found.
It is worthwhile to point out, as AB 1156 did, that firefighters, police officers, and first responders are primarily men, and it is therefore primarily men who benefit from presumptions in California workers’ compensation law. Healthcare, meanwhile, is one of the fastest-growing employment sectors in the state. Among healthcare workers, Registered Nurses are the largest occupation, and that field is 90% female. Women in California earn 89 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts. While AB 1165 would not have addressed the gender pay gap, it would have closed the worker’s compensation gender gap by extending presumptions to healthcare workers who are every bit as exposed to infectious diseases, carcinogens, ergonomic hazards, traumatic events, and toxic exposure as first responders.
Contact Invictus Law, P.C., for Help With Workers’ Compensation in Orange County and the Inland Empire
Whether a rebuttable presumption exists in your case or not, the experienced workers’ compensation attorneys at Invictus Law, P.C., will work to ensure your claim is successful and that your benefits are fully paid. For help with a workers’ compensation claim in Orange County or the Inland Empire, contact us at our offices in Orange or Ontario by calling 949-287-5711 or 888-9WORKLAW for a free consultation.
