PTSD, contractor cover and fraud among Calif. bills

A bill that would give more workers a presumption that post-traumatic stress disorder is job-related is up for a third and final vote in the California Assembly after spending the last year on the lower chamber’s “inactive file.”

S.B. 284, which was ordered for a third reading on Thursday, would expand the PTSD presumption to cover active firefighting employees of the Department of State Hospitals, the Department of Developmental Services, the Military Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The California Assembly also on Thursday unanimously passed S.B. 216, which would require certain contractors to carry workers compensation coverage regardless of the number of people they employ, and S.B. 1242, which would mandate that insurance brokers undergo training on how to identify and report suspected fraud.

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