California first responders with PTSD seek MH coverage

Abstract

After consecutive record‐breaking fire seasons and a deluge of mass shootings, California firefighters and police organizations are pushing for a new law that would help first responders by giving them opportunities to receive compensation for psychological injuries they sustain over their careers, The Sacramento Bee reported April 15. They're backing Senate Bill 542, sponsored by the California Professional Firefighters and the California Association of Highway Patrolmen, which would compel government agencies to grant police and firefighter workers' compensation claims for post‐traumatic stress. Today, workers struggling with psychiatric injuries qualify for workers' compensation only if the disorder causes disability or requires medical treatment. They must also prove job experiences are a “substantial cause” — meaning 35 to 40 percent — of their injury. SB 542 would instead require local agencies to bear the burden of proof if they contend injuries are not job‐related. By contrast, a host of physical ailments are considered “presumptive” conditions for workers' compensation claims from public safety officers in California. Sen. Henry Stern, D‐Canoga Park, who is carrying the bill, said the proposal, paves the way to “treating mental health illnesses as equal to any of those other workplace injuries.”