Maryland to consider PTSD presumption

Maryland lawmakers on Tuesday jumped on the trend of expanding workers compensation benefits to first responders diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

H.B. 337, which was sent to the House Economic Matters Committee, states that a first responder who is diagnosed by a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist with post-traumatic stress disorder would be “presumed under certain circumstances to have an occupational disease that was suffered in the line of duty and is compensable under workers compensation law.”

The bill would limit the applicability of the presumption to benefits for services related to the diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder for two years immediately following an initial diagnosis.

For the second time this week Florida lawmakers introduced a bill that would add crime scene investigators and 911 dispatchers to the list of professionals who qualify for the state’s presumption for post-traumatic stress disorder.

S.B. 352, introduced Tuesday, is a companion bill to H.B. 337, which was filed Monday.