If you are a first responder, you have probably heard of the Florida Heart and Lung Bill for workers’ compensation benefits. However, you may not understand all its provisions, or when it protects you. Figuring out whether you are covered can be more complicated than you might think. Talk to one of our attorneys to learn more about the first responder conditions covered by the Florida Heart Bill.
The Heart Bill appears at Florida Statute § 112.18, with the purpose of relieving first responders of the burden of proving that certain health conditions are work-related. The law applies to certified corrections officers, firefighters, and police officers.
When any employee in any business in Florida is in a work-related accident or develops a work-related health condition, they are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits if their employer offers it. However, if the employer’s workers’ compensation insurer questions whether a health problem is work-related, it may deny benefits. The worker can appeal, but appealing is a hassle and not always successful.
The Heart Bill establishes a presumption that certain health conditions first responders develop are work-related. Even though an insurer can still deny the claim, the burden shifts to the insurer to prove that the condition is not work-related in the specific case. If you are a first responder in Florida facing a denial of a Heart Bill claim, you should immediately get in touch with an attorney at Bichler & Longo for help appealing the denial.
The law explicitly covers heart disease, hypertension, and tuberculosis diagnoses, which are called protected conditions. It also covers health impacts arising from or complications of those three protected conditions, like coronary artery disease or cardiac arrhythmias. There is also a provision for firefighters that lists various cancers that are covered, such as cancer of the breast, brain, lung, stomach, thyroid, and many others. Mental and nervous conditions can also apply, such as anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
If your employer disputes whether a health problem is related to or arising from a Florida Heart Bill protected condition, our legal team can make the case against that. The Heart Bill only protects you if you had a pre-employment physical that did not show indications of one of the protected conditions. In other words, the law does not cover pre-existing conditions, it only presumes a condition that developed while you were employed is work related.
Heart Bill protection covers you if you are employed as a first responder regardless of how the condition manifests. For example, if you have a heart attack while playing tennis on vacation and your high blood pressure is the probable cause of it, the law forces your employer’s workers’ compensation insurer to presume that the heart attack was the result of your time as a CO, police officer, or firefighter.
You cannot rely on the Heart Bill for benefits unless you have some documented impairment, and you cannot claim benefits unless the condition interferes with your ability to work.
The impairment does not need to be permanent and it does not need to prevent you from resuming your work duties. If you had a heart attack and were out of work for several weeks, then returned to limited duty before eventually returning to full duty, you still could claim benefits. Your employer owes you free medical care and a partial wage for the time you were out of work and on limited duty, and cannot claim that your heart attack was not work-related.
There are certain rules that can be confusing, so if you believe your Florida employer is wrongfully denying you heart bill protections, contact an attorney right away.
The primary first responder conditions that are covered by the Florida Heart Bill are high blood pressure, heart disease, and tuberculosis, but there are other related conditions that can make you eligible for benefits. If you have been diagnosed with one of these diseases or conditions, you are entitled to certain legal presumptions when you make a workers’ compensation claim.
Workers’ compensation insurers sometimes do not honor those presumptions, which may require you to call an experienced legal professional. For decades, Bichler & Longo has been representing public servants and ensuring they obtain the benefits they have earned, so get in touch with us today to find out how we can help you.