California committee passes bills to increase comp benefits

A California Senate committee on Wednesday passed bills that would require annual cost-of-living adjustments in permanent partial disability benefits and create a presumption that certain types of injuries and diseases are compensable for hospital workers.

The Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement passed Senate Bill 555, by Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Fresno, which would increase PPD benefits each year by an amount equal to the annual cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security benefits.

The average weekly wages used to calculate PPD benefits range from $240 to $435 and have not changed since 2014.

Jason Marcus, legislative chairman for the California Applicants’ Attorneys Association, said tying PPD benefits to the Social Security COLA would result in an average increase of about $45 per month per recipient.

Ashley Hoffman, a lobbyist for the California Chamber of Commerce, acknowledged that more than a decade has passed since PPD benefits were last adjusted, but said benefit increases need to be part of a larger reform discussion as they were with the SB 863 reforms in 2012. Benefit increases need to be offset with savings elsewhere, she said.

Jason Schmelzer, a lobbyist for the California Coalition on Workers’ Compensation and PRISM, the Public Risk Innovation, Solutions and Management insurance pool, also said he’d be willing to “negotiate a reasonable package of benefit increases financed by needed system reforms.”

The committee on Wednesday also passed Senate Bill 632, by Sen. Jesse Arreguin, D-Berkeley, which would create presumptions that musculoskeletal injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder and cancer are compensable conditions for hospital workers providing direct patient care.

The bill would also create presumptions for infectious diseases, which are defined to include tuberculosis, meningitis, COVID-19 and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, as well as respiratory diseases that are defined to include asthma and COVID-19.

Carmen Comsti, assistant director of government relations with the California Nurses Association, said hospital workers face higher rates of infectious disease, musculoskeletal injuries, workplace violence and exposure to hazardous substances.

Work Comp Central is a sister publication to Business Insurance. More stories here.