State Considers Bill to Bar From Comp Those Who Fail to Disclose Medical Conditions

Thursday, March 23, 2017 | 0

Montana lawmakers heard a bill this week that would strip employees of workers' compensation eligibility if they knowingly or willfully fail to disclose a medical condition that might be relevant to their job on a pre-employment questionnaire, the Great Falls Tribune reported Tuesday.

Sen. Mark Blasdel

Senate Bill 116, by Sen. Mark Blasdel, R-Kalispell, passed in the Senate by a 33-17 vote in February. It was heard in the House's Business and Labor Committee on Tuesday. The committee took no immediate action. 

Terry Kramer, a Kalispell builder, testified in favor of the bill at Tuesday's hearing. He said that he found out about an employee's old back injury after the worker was hurt on the job, and the resulting workers' compensation case substantially raised the company's premiums.

"It'll take a minimum of three years before our rates will be reduced," Kramer said. 

Suggesting that he would not have hired the worker had he known about the old injury, he said, "All this due to one person falsifying their employment application and withholding information pre- and post-hiring."

Al Smith of the Montana Trial Lawyers Association spoke out against the bill. 

"This bill is to benefit employers. It doesn't benefit workers, it's not about safety. It's going to lead to more litigation," Smith said during the hearing, according to the Great Falls Tribune. 

Montana's legislative session is scheduled to run until April 25.