Florida Senate - 2018 CS for SB 376
By the Committee on Banking and Insurance; and Senators Book,
Latvala, Taddeo, and Montford
597-01803-18 2018376c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to workers’ compensation benefits for
3 first responders; amending s. 112.1815, F.S.; revising
4 the evidentiary standard for demonstrating mental and
5 nervous injuries of first responders; deleting certain
6 limitations relating to workers’ compensation benefits
7 for first responders; amending s. 440.093, F.S.;
8 providing that law enforcement officers, firefighters,
9 emergency medical technicians, and paramedics are
10 entitled to benefits under the Workers’ Compensation
11 Law for mental or nervous injuries, regardless of
12 whether such injuries are accompanied by physical
13 injuries requiring medical treatment, under specified
14 circumstances; conforming provisions to changes made
15 by the act; providing an effective date.
16
17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
20 112.1815, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
21 112.1815 Firefighters, paramedics, emergency medical
22 technicians, and law enforcement officers; special provisions
23 for employment-related accidents and injuries.—
24 (2)(a) For the purpose of determining benefits under this
25 section relating to employment-related accidents and injuries of
26 first responders, the following shall apply:
27 1. An injury or disease caused by the exposure to a toxic
28 substance is not an injury by accident arising out of employment
29 unless there is a preponderance of the evidence establishing
30 that exposure to the specific substance involved, at the levels
31 to which the first responder was exposed, can cause the injury
32 or disease sustained by the employee.
33 2. Any adverse result or complication caused by a smallpox
34 vaccination of a first responder is deemed to be an injury by
35 accident arising out of work performed in the course and scope
36 of employment.
37 3. A mental or nervous injury involving a first responder
38 and occurring as a manifestation of a compensable injury must be
39 demonstrated by a preponderance of the clear and convincing
40 evidence. For a mental or nervous injury arising out of the
41 employment unaccompanied by a physical injury involving a first
42 responder, only medical benefits under s. 440.13 shall be
43 payable for the mental or nervous injury. However, payment of
44 indemnity as provided in s. 440.15 may not be made unless a
45 physical injury arising out of injury as a first responder
46 accompanies the mental or nervous injury. Benefits for a first
47 responder are not subject to any limitation on temporary
48 benefits under s. 440.093 or the 1-percent limitation on
49 permanent psychiatric impairment benefits under s. 440.15(3)(c).
50 Section 2. Section 440.093, Florida Statutes, is amended to
51 read:
52 440.093 Mental and nervous injuries.—
53 (1) Except as provided in subsection (4):
54 (a) A mental or nervous injury due to stress, fright, or
55 excitement only is not an injury by accident arising out of the
56 employment.
57 (b) Nothing in This section may not shall be construed to
58 allow for the payment of benefits under this chapter for mental
59 or nervous injuries without an accompanying physical injury
60 requiring medical treatment.
61 (c) A physical injury resulting from mental or nervous
62 injuries unaccompanied by physical trauma requiring medical
63 treatment is shall not be compensable under this chapter.
64 (2) Except as provided in subsection (4), mental or nervous
65 injuries occurring as a manifestation of an injury compensable
66 under this chapter must shall be demonstrated by clear and
67 convincing medical evidence by a licensed psychiatrist meeting
68 criteria established in the most recent edition of the
69 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published
70 by the American Psychiatric Association. Except as provided in
71 subsection (4), the compensable physical injury must be and
72 remain the major contributing cause of the mental or nervous
73 condition and the compensable physical injury as determined by
74 reasonable medical certainty must be at least 50 percent
75 responsible for the mental or nervous condition as compared to
76 all other contributing causes combined. Compensation is not
77 payable for the mental, psychological, or emotional injury
78 arising out of depression from being out of work or losing
79 employment opportunities, resulting from a preexisting mental,
80 psychological, or emotional condition or due to pain or other
81 subjective complaints that cannot be substantiated by objective,
82 relevant medical findings.
83 (3) Subject to the payment of permanent benefits under s.
84 440.15, in no event shall temporary benefits for a compensable
85 mental or nervous injury be paid for more than 6 months after
86 the date of maximum medical improvement for the injured
87 employee’s physical injury or injuries, which shall be included
88 in the period of 104 weeks as provided in s. 440.15(2) and (4).
89 Mental or nervous injuries are compensable only in accordance
90 with the terms of this section.
91 (4) A law enforcement officer, a firefighter, an emergency
92 medical technician, or a paramedic is entitled to receive
93 benefits under this chapter for a mental or nervous injury,
94 whether or not such injury is accompanied by a physical injury
95 requiring medical treatment, if:
96 (a) The mental or nervous injury resulted while the law
97 enforcement officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician,
98 or paramedic was acting within the course of his or her
99 employment as described in s. 440.091 and the law enforcement
100 officer, firefighter, emergency medical technician, or paramedic
101 witnessed, or arrived at the scene of, a murder, suicide, fatal
102 injury, child death, or mass casualty incident; and
103 (b) The mental or nervous injury is demonstrated by a
104 preponderance of the evidence by a licensed psychiatrist to meet
105 the criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder as described in
106 the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth
107 Edition, published by the American Psychiatric Association.
108 Section 3. This act shall take effect October 1, 2018.