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Committee hears PTSI workers—comp bill; proponents cite suicide, insurers highlight cost and legal issues
Summary
Senate Bill 394 would allow workers—comp to cover post-traumatic stress injuries (PTSI) for first responders. First-responder groups pressed for coverage, citing higher PTSD and suicide rates; insurers and self-insured entities warned of fiscal risk and potential equal-protection and program design issues.
Senator Cora Newman presented Senate Bill 394 to expand workers' compensation coverage to include post-traumatic stress injuries for defined "first responders". Newman described the epidemiology of repeated traumatic exposure among firefighters, law enforcement officers, EMTs and dispatchers and framed PTSI as an occupational injury requiring clinical treatment and time for recovery.
Proponents included the Montana State Firefighters Association, fire department chaplains, police associations and chiefs who provided personal and programmatic…
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