BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2269
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Date of Hearing: April 28, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2269 (Adams) - As Amended: April 13, 2010
Policy Committee: Insurance
Vote:10-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill expands a workers' compensation presumption for peace
officers working at Department of Developmental Services
Developmental Centers (DC) and Department of Mental Health (DMH)
psychiatric hospitals. Specifically, this bill extends a cardiac
presumption available to officers at Atascadero DC to peace
officers at the following facilities:
a) Coalinga State Hospital,
b) Metropolitan State Hospital,
c) Napa State Hospital,
d) Patton State Hospital,
e) Porterville Developmental Center,
f) Lanterman Developmental Center,
g) Sonoma Developmental Center,
h) Fairview Developmental Center, and
i) Canyon Springs Community Facility.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)GF costs of more than $3.5 million to $7 million to DDS and
DMH combined to provide workers' compensation benefits to 20
to 40 employees or retirees with significant cardiac
conditions. According to data provided by DDS and DMH, this
bill expands the presumption to approximately 850
professionals.
2)Workers' compensation benefits include the payment of full
hospital, surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity,
and death benefits.
AB 2269
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3)Most public agencies are self-insured for workers'
compensation claims. Payments are treated in a pay as you go
manner rather than paid through premiums. Therefore, any
increase in costs has a direct impact on public funds.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . This bill is sponsored by the California Statewide
Law Enforcement Association. This bill extends a cardiac
presumption to all DC and state hospital hospitals. Under
current law, only peace officers at Atascadero state hospital
have had this presumption. Atascadero was the first state
hospital campus to accept prisoners. Now all state psychiatric
campuses have forensic residents. Supporters indicate this
bill increases equity.
2)Presumptions . California workers' compensation law requires
workers to be provided compensation benefits when an injury or
illness arises out of and in the course of employment. Current
law specifies that certain medical conditions suffered by
public safety officers (e.g., cancer, hernia, heart trouble,
pneumonia, tuberculosis, blood-borne infectious disease,
meningitis, and exposure to biochemical substances) are
presumed to have arisen in the course of employment. The
purpose of these statutory presumptions is to provide
additional compensation benefits to employees who provide
vital and hazardous services by easing their burden of proof
of industrial causation.
3)Cardiac Causality Not Documented . Cardiac conditions and heart
disease are leading causes of illness death for all age
cohorts of adults, all ethnic groups, and for both women and
men. Research has not found a distinct relationship between
occupational hazards and cardiac conditions. For example, the
RAND Corporation recently conducted extensive research about
public safety professionals and various risks of disease. The
RAND analysis, based on national data, found that safety
employees are more likely to be obese and might be more likely
to experience heart disease separate from professional risks.
RAND indicates more work is needed to establish the extent to
which the heart attack risk for firefighters and police
officers is truly elevated over other occupations.
4)Related Legislation . AB 2253 (Coto), pending on the Suspense
File of this committee, provides a 15-year cancer presumption
for tens of thousands of public safety professionals.
AB 2269
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AB 1994 (Skinner), pending in this committee, establishes
several workers' compensation presumptions for several hundred
thousand employees at hospitals statewide.
Analysis Prepared by : Mary Ader / APPR. / (916) 319-2081