Eighty-eight percent of workers compensation bills proposed this year by state legislatures failed to gain traction, according to a report released Thursday by the National Council on Compensation Insurance.
As of July 31, NCCI tracked 911 state and federal bills that could impact workers compensation; 108 bills have been enacted across all jurisdictions, according to the report that highlighted several themes including medical cost containment, such as introducing or amending fee schedules and treatment guidelines, and medical marijuana reimbursement.
As with years prior, mental injuries and presumptions were also a common theme in several states, as NCCI monitored 64 bills related to workers compensation and mental injuries, including 52 bills addressing compensability for workplace-related mental injuries. Of these bills, 51 were related to post-traumatic stress disorder specifically, according to the report.
While several states considered legislation to establish workers compensation coverage or create a presumption of compensability for psychological injuries, only three states enacted legislation: Alaska’s S.B. 147 created a presumption of compensability for PTSD in certain first responders; Arizona’s S.B. 1677 and Oklahoma’s S.B. 1457 both provided PTSD coverage for certain first responders.
Eight states considered legislation to expand coverage for mental injuries to additional workers, with most failing. A bill that would expand benefits to employees with extraordinary work-related stress is still pending in New York (A. 5745 and S.B. 6635). Vermont passed H.B. 55, which expands PTSD coverage to include certain state employees.
Several states proposed legislation to create presumptions in workers compensation for physical injuries, primarily applicable to certain first responders. The ailments included hearing loss, hypertension, cardiovascular or cerebrovascular injury or death, long COVID, infertility, heat-related injuries and certain types of cancer.
Specific to cancer, six states considered bills relating to cancer suffered by certain first responders with three states enacting such legislation: Maryland (thyroid, colon or ovarian cancer); West Virginia (bladder cancer, mesothelioma and testicular cancer); and Wyoming (cancer screenings).
Additional presumptions that were approved in 2024 include Louisiana’s H.B. 326, which provides a presumption of compensability for hearing loss in state police and New Jersey’s A. 5909 that creates a presumption for cardiovascular or cerebrovascular injury or death in emergency medical technicians and paramedics.