Bills Would Expand PTSD Coverage, Create Pandemic Mental Health Task Force

Friday, March 4, 2022 | 0

Lawmakers in New Jersey and Connecticut are considering legislation dealing with mental health coverage in their workers’ compensation systems.

A bill introduced Thursday in the Connecticut Senate would expand the state’s workers’ compensation law on post-traumatic stress injuries to make claims compensable for all employees, starting in 2023.

A measure introduced in New Jersey on Monday would create a task force to study and provide recommendations for pandemic-related PTSD.

In Connecticut, SB 321 would make PTSD a compensable condition, effective Jan. 1, for all workers who have a qualifying event such as viewing a deceased minor or witnessing death or traumatic physical injuries that cause permanent disfigurement.

PTSD arising from such incidents is already compensable for first responders.

The bill was referred to the Joint Committee on Labor and Public Employees, where it is pending.

The bill introduced in the New Jersey Senate, SB 1766, proposes a task force of 21 members consisting of government health officials, health care professionals specialized in the treatment of PTSD, law enforcement officers and frontline workers with personal PTSD experience.

The duties of the task force would include evaluating the causes, estimating the current prevalence of pandemic PTSD among first responders and identifying “new, alternative and innovative” means and methods of diagnosing and treating pandemic PTSD in first responders, health care professionals and other frontline workers.

The bill was referred to the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee, where it is pending.

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