Legislature(2007 - 2008)BUTROVICH 205
02/18/2008 01:30 PM Senate HEALTH, EDUCATION & SOCIAL SERVICES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB117 | |
| SB160 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | SB 117 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| = | SB 160 | ||
SB 117-WORKERS' COMP: DISEASE PRESUMPTION
1:36:30 PM
CHAIR DAVIS announced consideration of SB 117. [Before the
committee was CSSB 117 (L&C)].
SENATOR FRENCH, sponsor of SB 117, said the idea of the bill is
to create a presumption in the workers' compensation laws that
certain diseases, cardio vascular emergencies and cancers are
work related when contracted by fire fighters during a limited
time frame and within specific parameters. The list of ailments
on page 2 of the bill is limited to diseases that fire fighters
contract more often the general public. Certain contagious
diseases such as tuberculosis and meningitis are covered under a
presumption for fire fighters and other first responders. In all
instances a preponderance of evidence can negate or overcome the
presumption. For example, someone with a history of tobacco use
is specifically prevented from the worker's comp presumption for
respiratory and heart conditions. Other factors including
physical fitness, work history and non-employment activities can
be considered when the claim is filed. A qualifying medical exam
will insure that an ailment wasn't present before a claim is
filed.
The presumption for fire fighters is restricted to only those
who have served seven years or more, and coverage for qualifying
medical events extends to a maximum of sixty months after
employment ends. Exposure to a known carcinogen during the
course of employment must be established for a cancer claim
presumption under the legislation. Alaska is one of only nine
states that has not established a workers' comp presumption for
fire fighters. The 41 states that have enacted similar laws have
found negligible effects on actuarial assumptions for claims
payouts. The California retirement system (CALPERS) did an
extensive study of this issue to see if establishing this
presumption in law would raise workers' comp rates, and they
found no noticeable impact as a result of the presumption.
Workers' comp claims actually fell in Illinois during the six
years after a presumption was placed into law.
The Labor and Commerce (L&C) CS before the committee responds to
a single concern that qualifying medical exams would place an
unfunded obligation on the employers. The CS says that an
employer will not have an obligation to cover the costs of a
qualifying exam. It provides that an individual has the option
to pay for his own exam if an employer doesn't provide one.
Without an exam, individuals would not get the presumption
although they could still make a workers' comp claim.
This legislation gives fire fighters the back-up they need when
their life-saving work produces adverse effects to their own
personal health.
SENATOR FRENCH explained that Section 1 of the bill amends
AS.23.30 the Alaska Workers' Comp Act by adding the new section
that follows. Subsection (a) on page 1, line 6, establishes the
presumption that specified diseases are work-related when
contracted by certain emergency workers in the state. It also
allows for the presumption to be challenged and it gives
examples of evidence that can be used to disprove a presumption.
Included on the list are tobacco use, physical fitness and
exposures to hazards in other employment or non-employment
activities.
Subsection (b) starting on page 1, line 13, outlines the
specific illnesses and diseases that fall under the presumption
for a fire fighter in addition to the time frame for which the
presumption lasts. The diseases are: respiratory; cardio
vascular events or emergencies experienced within 72 hours after
exposure to smoke, fumes or toxic substances; 8 varieties of
cancer which studies have shown are experienced at greater rates
among fire fighters than the general public. To qualify for the
presumption, a fire fighter must have served at least seven
years and must have had a medical exam that didn't show evidence
of the disease. If the workers' compensation claim involves any
of the listed cancers, the fire fighter must demonstrate that
during the course of employment they were exposed to a known
carcinogen related to the disabling cancer.
Subsection (c) establishes a presumption that certain contagious
diseases listed on page 3, lines 8-13, are work related for fire
fighters and emergency rescue personnel. This presumption has
the same challenge process and requires a qualifying medical
exam showing good health during employment.
Subsection (d) on Page 3 Line 21 states that respiratory
conditions or cardio vascular events are not covered if the
firefighter has a history of tobacco use.
Subsection (e) is a new element of the bill. It makes clear that
an employer will not be forced to purchase a qualifying medical
exam. This language is on page 3, line 24.
Subsection (f) on page 3, line 31, establishes that the
department will determine through regulations the extent of
medical examinations necessary to eliminate evidence of disease
in an active or former fire fighter. It also requires the
department to define what constitutes a history of tobacco use.
Subsection (g) defines fire fighter as written in statute
09.65.295.
Section 2 makes clear the presumption will apply on any claim
filed after the legislation passes, assuming all provisions of
the bill including the qualified medical exam have occurred.
1:43:04 PM
SENATOR THOMAS asked if annual physicals were required by most
departments.
SENATOR FRENCH replied they are. He said in 90 cases out of a
100, those exams would satisfy the requirement. There are some
places that are too small with four or five fire fighters on the
force; they don't pay for annual exams. The concern was not to
burden those small departments with a new cost.
SENATOR THOMAS asked about volunteer firemen.
SENATOR FRENCH said they would qualify if they were being paid
wages that would allow them to file for workers' comp. If there
are no wages there is no Workers' Comp claim. They have to pay
for an exam if they want the presumption.
SENATOR COWDERY asked what happens if they fail the exam they
are required to take in order to keep the job, and if this would
have any effect on the presumption.
SENATOR FRENCH said he would defer that question to someone who
can explain how that would work. He said he thinks it would
depend on what caused them to fail.
1:46: 03 PM
PAUL LISANKIE, Director, Division of Worker's Compensation,
Department of Labor, Juneau, AK , said it depends on what the
exam disclosed. If it was something a fire fighter had to prove
he/she didn't have, it would probably disqualify coverage,
assuming it wasn't already work related. If it was something
that developed during the job, it could support a claim for
workers' comp under the existing statute.
SENATOR DYSON said Senator French why the list of contagious
diseases was included (page 3, line 6).
SENATOR FRENCH replied that those diseases are human
immunodeficiency virus (AIDS), acquired immunodeficiency
syndrome (AIDS), all strains of hepatitis, meningococcal
meningitis; micro bacterium tuberculosis;, and any uncommon
infectious diseases the U.S. Secretary of Labor determines are
related to hazards a fire fighter faces. The common factor in
these six diseases is they are things you get from the blood of
another person. Since these individuals go to places where they
are rescuing people and giving them Cardio Pulmonary
Resuscitation (CPR) under emergency situations, it's entirely
foreseeable that fire fighters will come in contact with these
diseases more than the general public. The research supports
this. Therefore, when they diseases come up, they get a work-
related presumption. It can be rebutted, but they get the
benefit of the doubt initially.
SENATOR DYSON said there a lot of people in Alaska who work
seasonally fighting forest fires from three to five months a
year. He asked if they would have to have the same seven times
12 months of on-the-job service to get covered under this bill.
ANDY MODEROW, staff to Senator French, replied the definition
does not include wild land volunteer fire fighters but it does
include the other employees.
SENATOR DYSON said the forest fire fighters may have volunteered
to go but they are paid on contract. He asked if they are
volunteers or employees.
1:51:23 PM
MR. MODEROW replied they are not included in the definition as
the bill is written.
CHAIR DAVIS asked if the department had any clarification on who
would be eligible for compensation.
MR. LISANKIE said Mr. Moderow is correct. The definition will
control who is eligible for coverage and the definition of fire
fighter in Alaska statutes describes a person employed by a
municipal fire department or who is a member of a volunteer fire
department registered with the state fire marshal or a person
registered for purposes of workers' compensation with the state
fire marshal as a member of a volunteer fire department. The
delineation is going to be what they're doing rather than
whether they're paid.
SENATOR DYSON said it sounds like many folks who work seasonally
fighting forest fires are not going to be covered and most of
those will not be directly working for the state or
municipality.
SENATOR FRENCH said forest fire fighters might get workers' comp
coverage, but not the presumption.
1:53:05 PM
JEFF BRIGGS, Alaska Professional Fire Fighters Association
(APFFA),and the International Association of Fire fighters
(IAFF) Local 1264, Anchorage, AK, said this bill is long
overdue. There are 40 other states and provinces in Canada that
currently have some sort of presumption in place, none of which
are experiencing fiscal problems through the implementation of
the legislation. Several of the states have many more diseases
and cancers covered. Some cover all cancers for a fire fighter's
entire life after he retires.
In Alaska, the workers' compensation rate for fire fighters is
$4.68 per hundred dollars of payroll. The claim that Alaska has
the highest rate in the nation is erroneous. Vermont in 2007
paid $14.52 per hundred dollars. This year nationwide already
there have been 17 on-duty fire fighter fatalities. In 2007
there were 115. The numbers from 9/11 are well known. The Alaska
Supreme Court has ruled that fire fighters and police officers
are not allowed to sue negligent parties to recover damages from
negligent acts. Considering that fire fighters don't have many
benefits, this would be a good place to start.
He said the Alaska Municipal League suggests that workers' comp
rates will skyrocket yet the same statement says that these
diseases are already covered by workers' comp so there should
not be an additional cost. If anything, the bill should
streamline the process and possibly save money. Last week Kevin
Smith sent a letter to the House Finance committee. Ironically,
he supported one of IAFF's claims. Night workers have a higher
cancer rate than the general public. Fire fighters often work
24-hour shifts, 56 hours a week. It appears that sleep
deprivation increases cancer risk. He urged the committee to
pass SB 117.
SENATOR THOMAS asked if Mr. Briggs had a list of where the rates
went down and if that was based on the concept that there would
be early detection and intervention potentially under the terms
of this bill, rather than down the road when one of the diseases
that are listed ends up being an extremely expensive item.
MR. BRIGGS said he thought rates have dropped because workers
tend to be safer. Every year equipment is improved and more
training is available. IAFF is in the process of gathering more
data on rates in other states.
SENATOR DYSON said he's like to see a copy of the data when it's
collected.
1:57:43 PM
MARK DRYGAS President, Alaska Professional Fire Fighters
Association (APFFA), Fairbanks, AK, said he represents 500 fire
fighters and emergency medical service providers. The members of
APFFA respond to 75 per cent of the 911 calls in Alaska. He said
he is also employed as a battalion chief in the Fairbanks Fire
Department. He supported SB 117. Fire fighters face multiple
hazards every day. They expose themselves to possible injuries
from falls, buildings collapsing, burns, et cetera. The risks
they take to provide for the safety and protection of property
of others is part of the job. If they are unfortunate enough to
suffer an injury, they know they will be provided for by
workers' compensation. No one gains, but at least the negative
effects are lessened by this coverage. Fire fighters are
becoming increasingly aware of the new dangers of the
profession. In addition to exposure to injuries, fire fighters
are exposed to disease-causing elements on a daily basis. Fire
fighters are contracting cancer in all its forms at a rate that
exceeds the general public.
He said fire fighters generally represent a healthier segment of
the workforce. They are learning to accept some of these risks
while making every effort to limit their exposure to toxins.
Progress has been made in making equipment safer and improving
training. Meanwhile, exposure to cancer toxins increases. Years
ago most fires consumed natural products. Nowadays, fires
consume a vast array of synthetics, plastics, and unknown
chemicals. Advanced breathing apparatuses have lessened
inhalation hazards, but many toxins enter the body through skin
absorption. It used to be a badge of honor to have a soot-
covered bunker coat, but today's fire fighter knows to keep his
gear clean. There are hazards in every profession but workers in
other professions are informed of the hazards facing them and
can establish a safe work environment. A materials safety data
sheet (MSDS) is posted in all workplaces.
He asked committee members to imagine the chemicals in their
garages, under their sinks, in their laundry rooms, as well as
the synthetics and components of a home, from curtains to
stereos with no way of knowing what kind of lethal combination
they might produce in a fire.
MR. DRYGAS said fire fighters cannot pinpoint where and when
they become exposed to hazards that may cause cancer. It could
be from a combination of exposure to different fires or from
handling fire hose after a fire which is routinely cleaned by
the fire fighters on the next shift. A state of Alaska report on
occupational injury or illness asks for the date, time and place
the exposure occurred. A fire fighter is at a loss trying to
fill out one of those forms after being on the job for 10 or 20
years. SB 117 provides for a presumption of coverage, but it is
not a guarantee. The employer or insurer must prove that cancer
was not related to the job. There are provisions in the bill
that allow the insurers to raise family history, lifestyle
habits, and smoking in challenging a claim. The insurer must
prove by a preponderance of evidence that it is not job related
instead of the employee having to prove that it is job related.
He said the bill provides for coverage of certain respiratory
diseases and for heart disease or heart attacks following a
major event like a structure fire. Exposure to fire and its
accompanying chemical compounds has led to an increased
incidence of heart attacks in the first 72 hours following a
fire. The bill also has a presumption of coverage for certain
blood-borne communicable diseases. As first responders, fire
fighters enter situations where they don't have the luxuries of
a hospital environment or good lighting. They don't know the
history of the patient before they deal with them. These claims
of disease are at the same time open to proof the exposure
occurred outside the job. Some people in the insurance industry
will say it's too expensive and not needed, and that fire
fighters are already covered. He remarked:
I expect that. That's their job. They're insurance
people. Compassion isn't part of their vocabulary.
They'll try a counter or scientific research. They'll
say it's skewed, that we used poor studies, but
they're never going to be able to show that . . . our
cancer rate is the same as the general public. Every
study shows that fire fighters are getting these
cancers. We worked hard on the bill to come up with
the eight cancers that we thought had the best
evidence behind [them], the best scientific study.
2:04:27 PM
MR. DRYGAS said he and the others testifying are not paid
lobbyists; they chose to volunteer their time. It is devastating
to a fire fighter to contract one of these diseases and
devastating to their families. They are just asking that it
isn't made worse by having to go through the stress of that in
addition to their disease or illness to prove that it is job
related. Few people would say that the work of fire fighters is
not appreciated. This isn't a labor bill or a union bill. He
doesn't even like referring to it as a workers' compensation
bill. It's a fire fighters' bill and it shows that people care
about their fire fighters.
SENATOR DYSON asked if the record shows that forest fire
fighters have much less of these kinds of diseases.
MR. DRYGAS replied that forestry is a different type of problem.
Those are wood smoke and not the type of situation found in a
structure fire, especially the interior of a structure fire. He
said he has talked with people from the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) who have asked him about the various
protections they use, especially fighting fires around dump
sites.
2:08:31 PM
SENATOR THOMAS asked if the physicals fire fighters receive in
Fairbanks are adequate for detecting these diseases early.
MR. DRYGAS replied that Fairbanks has an extensive pre-
employment physical as well as an extensive annual two-day
physical. It is in place to protect both the city and the fire
fighters. Smaller departments, especially volunteer departments
don't have an extensive annual physical.
2:10:15 PM
SENATOR THOMAS made a clarifying motion that the committee was
considering the Senate Labor & Commerce committee substitute,
version \M, and there was no objection.
CHAIR DAVIS called back the sponsors of the bill.
SENATOR FRENCH said he had no further statements.
SENATOR DYSON asked if the administration is okay with this
bill.
MR. LISANKIE replied that the administration is neutral on the
bill.
SENATOR THOMAS moved to report CSSB 117, version \M, from
committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal
note(s). There being no objection, CSSB 117(L&C) moved from
committee.
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