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Alabama lawmakers consider expanding PTSD cover

Posted On: Feb. 2, 2021 10:05 AM CST

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First responders in Alabama could file mental injury claims without a physical injury under a bill proposed by state lawmakers on Tuesday.

 

H.B. 212 would eliminate language in the state’s workers compensation law that states “an occupational disease is not considered to include a mental disease or disorder, including post-traumatic stress disorder, unless a physical injury accompanies the mental disease or disorder.”

 

According to a draft, the bill would provide that a law enforcement officer or firefighter employed by a municipality, county, or fire district and diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder would be reimbursed for “certain co-payments for treatment or would require a county or municipality to maintain sufficient coverage for the reimbursement of co-payments.”

 

It would also require counties, municipalities, and fire districts to provide disability payments or coverage for law enforcement officers and firefighters who are unable to return to work as a result of PTSD.

 

The bill was referred to the House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means General Fund.