Florida Senate - 2018                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 376
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì902814!Î902814                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
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       The Committee on Banking and Insurance (Book) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 36 - 109
    4  and insert:
    5  demonstrated by a preponderance of the clear and convincing
    6  evidence. For a mental or nervous injury arising out of the
    7  employment unaccompanied by a physical injury involving a first
    8  responder, only medical benefits under s. 440.13 shall be
    9  payable for the mental or nervous injury. However, payment of
   10  indemnity as provided in s. 440.15 may not be made unless a
   11  physical injury arising out of injury as a first responder
   12  accompanies the mental or nervous injury. Benefits for a first
   13  responder are not subject to any limitation on temporary
   14  benefits under s. 440.093 or the 1-percent limitation on
   15  permanent psychiatric impairment benefits under s. 440.15(3)(c).
   16         Section 2. Section 440.093, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   17  read:
   18         440.093 Mental and nervous injuries.—
   19         (1) Except as provided in subsection (4):
   20         (a) A mental or nervous injury due to stress, fright, or
   21  excitement only is not an injury by accident arising out of the
   22  employment.
   23         (b)Nothing in This section may not shall be construed to
   24  allow for the payment of benefits under this chapter for mental
   25  or nervous injuries without an accompanying physical injury
   26  requiring medical treatment.
   27         (c) A physical injury resulting from mental or nervous
   28  injuries unaccompanied by physical trauma requiring medical
   29  treatment is shall not be compensable under this chapter.
   30         (2) Except as provided in subsection (4), mental or nervous
   31  injuries occurring as a manifestation of an injury compensable
   32  under this chapter must shall be demonstrated by clear and
   33  convincing medical evidence by a licensed psychiatrist meeting
   34  criteria established in the most recent edition of the
   35  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published
   36  by the American Psychiatric Association. Except as provided in
   37  subsection (4), the compensable physical injury must be and
   38  remain the major contributing cause of the mental or nervous
   39  condition and the compensable physical injury as determined by
   40  reasonable medical certainty must be at least 50 percent
   41  responsible for the mental or nervous condition as compared to
   42  all other contributing causes combined. Compensation is not
   43  payable for the mental, psychological, or emotional injury
   44  arising out of depression from being out of work or losing
   45  employment opportunities, resulting from a preexisting mental,
   46  psychological, or emotional condition or due to pain or other
   47  subjective complaints that cannot be substantiated by objective,
   48  relevant medical findings.
   49         (3) Subject to the payment of permanent benefits under s.
   50  440.15, in no event shall temporary benefits for a compensable
   51  mental or nervous injury be paid for more than 6 months after
   52  the date of maximum medical improvement for the injured
   53  employee’s physical injury or injuries, which shall be included
   54  in the period of 104 weeks as provided in s. 440.15(2) and (4).
   55  Mental or nervous injuries are compensable only in accordance
   56  with the terms of this section.
   57         (4)A law enforcement officer, a firefighter, an emergency
   58  medical technician, or a paramedic is entitled to receive
   59  benefits under this chapter for a mental or nervous injury,
   60  whether or not such injury is accompanied by a physical injury
   61  requiring medical treatment, if:
   62         (a)The mental or nervous injury resulted while the law
   63  enforcement officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician,
   64  or paramedic was acting within the course of his or her
   65  employment as described in s. 440.091 and the law enforcement
   66  officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician, or paramedic
   67  witnessed, or arrived at the scene of, a murder, suicide, fatal
   68  injury, child death, or mass casualty incident; and
   69         (b)The mental or nervous injury is demonstrated by a
   70  preponderance of the evidence by a licensed psychiatrist to meet
   71  the criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder as described in
   72  the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth
   73  Edition, published by the American Psychiatric Association.
   74         Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2018.
   75  
   76  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   77  And the title is amended as follows:
   78         Delete lines 3 - 12
   79  and insert:
   80         first responders; amending s. 112.1815, F.S.; revising
   81         the evidentiary standard for demonstrating mental and
   82         nervous injuries of first responders; deleting certain
   83         limitations relating to workers’ compensation benefits
   84         for first responders; amending s. 440.093, F.S.;
   85         providing that law enforcement officers, firefighters,
   86         emergency medical technicians, and paramedics are
   87         entitled to benefits under the Workers’ Compensation
   88         Law for mental or nervous injuries, regardless of
   89         whether such injuries are accompanied by physical
   90         injuries requiring medical treatment, under specified
   91         circumstances; conforming provisions to changes made
   92         by the act; providing an effective date.