Quote of the day
“Please allow the study to go forward before you enact legislation such as this.”
John Heard, lobbyist for the Virginia Self-Insurers Association and Metis Services Inc., a risk-control firm for employers, regarding a bill that would extend workers’ compensation benefits automatically to firefighters and other first responders stricken by certain forms of cancer
Chicago transfers workers’ comp from finance committee
The Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee agreed Tuesday to transfer control over Chicago’s $100 million-a-year workers’ compensation program from the committee to the Department of Finance. Chicago Sun-Times
Virginia firefighters win first round of annual battle over workers’ comp for cancer
Colon cancer is among three forms of the disease that would be presumed eligible for workers’ compensation under a bill in the Virginia Senate. The senate’s Finance Committee this week approved the bill on a 14-2 vote that was much closer than it looked. Richmond Times-Dispatch
Illinois manufacturers seek workforce development, deregulation
Illinois legislators begin a spring session next week, and Democrats and Republicans are likely to continue to clash about taxes and regulations for businesses. Republicans and business groups have for years pushed for property tax relief and workers’ comp reforms without much movement from Democrats. Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.)
Bill aims to make workers’ comp claims easier for Montana firefighters
A bill in the Montana House would allow firefighters to file workers’ compensation claims for certain ailments as presumptive occupational diseases. The list of 13 presumptive diseases named in the bill includes forms of cancer along with respiratory and cardiovascular disease, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder. The bill includes an opt-in provision for employers of the state’s estimated 8,000 volunteer firefighters, of whom 6,000 are covered by workers’ compensation. Helena Independent Record
Canada: Former fireman with PTSD sues over suspended benefits, dismissal
In Calgary, a lawsuit filed by a 44-year-old former firefighter and paramedic against a Canadian oilsands corporation claims the company wrongfully denied him benefits and fired him after he was diagnosed with job-related post-traumatic stress disorder. The plaintiff claims his PTSD built up over time and there was no single event that triggered it. Calgary Herald