State Lawmakers Reject Presumption Expansion for Hospital Workers

The California Senate voted down a bill that would have created presumptions that infectious diseases, post-traumatic stress disorder, musculoskeletal injuries and some respiratory illnesses are compensable for hospital workers who provide direct patient care. Senate Bill 213, by Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose, failed to pass by just one vote despite passionate pleas from supporters who said the legislation was necessary to level the workers’ comp playing field between male-dominated first responders and a frontline health care sector that is predominantly female. The Senate voted 2...