By EMS1 Staff
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A bill that would give first responders insurance coverage for PTSD treatment was criticized by opponents who questioned the cost and eligibility standards.
Business Insurance reported that S.B. 376 would give first responders benefits under the Florida Workers’ Compensation Law for mental health treatment due to the fact that more first responders die by suicide than are killed in the line of duty.
The Florida League of Cities, a policy group that represents Florida’s municipal governments, said the bill would be too expensive for residents.
“With the most respect to our first responders, we feel like part of the conversation that should be had when discussing PTSD and workers comp is the cost associated with any new benefits,” the organization’s lawyer, David Cruz, said. “Unfortunately, our taxpayers would be on the hook ... The League of Cities has tried to look at other states that have studied this issue, and one such study was done by the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation, who studied a similar proposal. They estimated that it would cost Ohio $182 million a year for the impacted first responder employers. Ohio is a smaller state ... so the impact in Florida could be even greater.”
Cruz added that the issue they are concerned about is workers’ compensation coverage.
“The bill was amended in committee, and I think two big issues we have with the current version of the bill is the broadness of the events that are covered,” he said. “The other issue that we have is the evidentiary standard that the first responder has to meet. I believe they changed it from a clear and convincing standard to a preponderance standard, which would make it easier for them to meet that evidentiary standard.”
The American Insurance Association also opposed the bill, saying mental health claims can “flood the system.”