Colorado Senate passes bill expanding workers comp for PTSD
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A Colorado workers compensation bill that is aimed at helping first responders with post-traumatic stress disorder passed 28-6 Wednesday in the Colorado Senate.
House Bill 1229 would expand state law to clarify the definitions of “psychologically traumatic event” and “serious bodily injury” under workers comp.
“The problem was that when these first responders would seek out professional help to treat their PTSD they received on the job, paying for the treatment had to come out of their pockets,” according to a statement Tuesday from the Colorado Senate Democrats.
Fred C. Bosse, Austin, Texas-based vice president for state affairs for the Southwest Region with the American Insurance Association, said H.B. 1229 could raise Colorado’s workers comp system costs.
“We were concerned that in attempting to simplify the conditions that would be required to prove that a mental impairment claim was compensable it would expand the field of claims that would be compensable and we are always concerned about any legislation that drives up costs,” Mr. Bosse told Business Insurance in an interview on Wednesday.
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