HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1836        FILED ON: 1/18/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2528

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Denise C. Garlick

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to disability or death cause by contagious disease; presumption.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

Date Added:

Denise C. Garlick

13th Norfolk

1/17/2023

Vanna Howard

17th Middlesex

1/30/2023

Steven Ultrino

33rd Middlesex

1/30/2023

Susannah M. Whipps

2nd Franklin

1/30/2023

Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr.

12th Hampden

1/30/2023

James K. Hawkins

2nd Bristol

1/30/2023

Josh S. Cutler

6th Plymouth

1/30/2023

Carol A. Doherty

3rd Bristol

1/30/2023

Brian W. Murray

10th Worcester

1/30/2023

Jessica Ann Giannino

16th Suffolk

1/30/2023

Marc R. Pacheco

Third Bristol and Plymouth

1/30/2023

Gerard J. Cassidy

9th Plymouth

1/30/2023

Ryan M. Hamilton

15th Essex

1/31/2023

William C. Galvin

6th Norfolk

1/31/2023

Erika Uyterhoeven

27th Middlesex

2/1/2023

Rodney M. Elliott

16th Middlesex

2/2/2023

Paul McMurtry

11th Norfolk

2/2/2023

Tackey Chan

2nd Norfolk

2/3/2023

Tricia Farley-Bouvier

2nd Berkshire

2/9/2023

Colleen M. Garry

36th Middlesex

2/13/2023

Michelle M. DuBois

10th Plymouth

2/14/2023

Daniel Cahill

10th Essex

2/17/2023

Jonathan D. Zlotnik

2nd Worcester

3/7/2023

Paul R. Feeney

Bristol and Norfolk

3/7/2023

Priscila S. Sousa

6th Middlesex

10/15/2023

Andres X. Vargas

3rd Essex

10/15/2023

Rita A. Mendes

11th Plymouth

12/21/2023


HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1836        FILED ON: 1/18/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2528

By Representative Garlick of Needham, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2528) of Denise C. Garlick and others relative to the presumption for disability or death cause by contagious diseases.  Public Service.

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

_______________

 

An Act relative to disability or death cause by contagious disease; presumption.

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Chapter 32 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 94B the following new section: Section 94C.

(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, and for the purposes of any death, disability or medical services claim including claims under Chapter 32, Chapter 41 and Chapter 152 of the General Laws, any contagious disease, resulting in disability or death to a full-time uniformed member of a paid police department, fire department or municipal emergency medical service shall, if the person successfully passed a physical examination on entry into such service or subsequent to such entry, which examination failed to reveal any evidence of such condition, be presumed to have been suffered in the line of duty, unless it is shown by a preponderance of the evidence that non-service connected risk factors or non-service connected accidents or hazards undergone, or any combination thereof, caused such incapacity. The provisions of this section shall only apply if the disabling or fatal condition is a type of contagious disease which may, in general, result from exposure to blood and other body fluids of the sick, excluding the common cold.

(2) Any person first discovering any such condition within five years of the last date on which such person actively so served shall be eligible to apply for benefits hereunder, and such benefits, if granted, shall be payable as of the date on which the employee last received regular compensation. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any person serving in such position unless such person shall first establish that they regularly responded to calls for police, fire or emergency medical service during some portion of the period of their service in such position.

(3) The provisions of this section shall also apply to any condition of COVID-19, Hepatitis A, B, or C, Tuberculosis, HIV, and any other contagious disease which is found by regulation by the commissioner of the department of public health to have a statistically significant correlation with police, fire or emergency medical service.

(4) Nothing herein shall preclude a member from applying for and receiving benefits under section seven or section nine, subject to the provisions of said sections.