Lawmakers in California are thinking about an invoice that will add COVID-19 to the listing of diseases suffered by hospital care workers under workers compensation presumption.
S.B. 213, introduced and amended on Thursday, changes the word what in existing law that defines “injury” for any hospital employee who provides direct patient care within an acute care hospital, which to date includes infectious diseases, cancer, musculoskeletal injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder and respiratory diseases.
The bill would add COVID-19 “among other conditions” within the definitions of infectious and respiratory diseases, developing a rebuttable presumption these injuries developed or manifested “in a hospital employee who provides direct patient care within an acute care hospital arose out of as well as in the course of the employment,” according to an analysis of the bill.
The bill states the presumption shall be extended to a hospital employee following termination of employment for 3 calendar months for every full year of employment, although not to exceed 120 months, “beginning with the last date actually worked within the specified capacity.”
