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Arkansas House Bill HB1302

Arkansas 2023 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HB1302 Compare Versions

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11 Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
2-Act 537 of the Regular Session
32 *ANS132* 04-04-2023 15:14:49 ANS132
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54 State of Arkansas As Engrossed: H2/20/23 H3/6/23 H3/30/23 S4/4/23 1
65 94th General Assembly A Bill 2
76 Regular Session, 2023 HOUSE BILL 1302 3
87 4
98 By: Representatives Wing, A. Collins, L. Johnson, Scott, Vaught 5
109 By: Senator C. Tucker 6
1110 7
1211 For An Act To Be Entitled 8
1312 AN ACT TO OFFER TRAU MATIC EVENT LICENSED COUNSELING 9
1413 FOR PUBLIC SAFETY EM PLOYEES; TO ENSURE C OVERAGE OF 10
1514 TRAUMATIC EVENT LICE NSED COUNSELING FOR PUBLIC SAFETY 11
1615 EMPLOYEES; TO REQUIR E A STUDY OF AVAILAB ILITY FOR 12
1716 PEER SUPPORT ACCESS FOR VOLUNTEER FIREFI GHTERS; AND 13
1817 FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 14
1918 15
2019 16
2120 Subtitle 17
2221 TO OFFER AND ENSURE COVERAGE OF TRAUMATIC 18
2322 EVENT LICENSED COUNSELING FOR PUBLIC 19
2423 SAFETY EMPLOYEES; AND TO RE QUIRE A STUDY 20
2524 OF AVAILABILITY FOR PEER SUPPORT ACCESS 21
2625 FOR VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS. 22
2726 23
2827 24
2928 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 25
3029 26
3130 SECTION 1. DO NOT CODIFY. Traumatic event licensed counseling for 27
3231 public safety employees — Exceptions — Definitions. 28
3332 (a) As used in this section: 29
3433 (1) "Firefighter" means: 30
3534 (A) A paid, full-time member of a fire department or 31
3635 firefighting unit of a city of the first class, city of the second class, 32
3736 fire protection district, or an incorporated town or an unincorporated rural 33
3837 area of this state who actively engages in the fighting of fires on a regular 34
3938 basis; or 35
4039 (B) A paid, full-time instructor of the Arkansas Fire 36 As Engrossed: H2/20/23 H3/6/23 H3/30/23 S4/4/23 HB1302
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4544 Training Academy or a member of the firefighting organization of the Arkansas 1
4645 National Guard Robinson Maneuver Training Center or of the Arkansas National 2
4746 Guard Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center; 3
4847 (2) "Licensed counseling" means counseling provided by a 4
4948 licensed mental health professional; 5
5049 (3) "Licensed mental health professional" means a licensed 6
5150 individual who: 7
5251 (A) Specializes in trauma and crisis; 8
5352 (B) Uses evidence-based treatment options; and 9
5453 (C) Is one (1) of the following: 10
5554 (i) A psychiatrist; 11
5655 (ii) A psychologist; 12
5756 (iii) A mental health professional who holds either 13
5857 a master's or doctoral degree related to the mental health profession; 14
5958 (iv) A mental health nurse practitioner or mental 15
6059 health clinical nurse who is: 16
6160 (a) A registered nurse licensed and certi fied 17
6261 by the Arkansas State Board of Nursing as an advanced practice nurse; and 18
6362 (b) Working within the scope of practice as 19
6463 authorized by law; or 20
6564 (v) A psychiatric physician assistant who is working 21
6665 under the supervision of a licensed physician; 22
6766 (4) "Police officer" means: 23
6867 (A) A paid, full-time law enforcement officer engaged in 24
6968 official duty who is a member of: 25
7069 (i) A regular police force; 26
7170 (ii) The Division of Arkansas State Police; or 27
7271 (iii) The law enforcement organization of the: 28
7372 (a) Arkansas National Guard Robinson Maneuver 29
7473 Training Center; or 30
7574 (b) Arkansas National Guard Fort Chaffee Joint 31
7675 Maneuver Training Center; 32
7776 (B) A paid, full-time sheriff or deputy sheriff of a 33
7877 county of this state who is engaged in official duty; or 34
7978 (C) A paid, full-time constable or night marshal of a town 35
8079 of this state who is engaged in official duty; 36 As Engrossed: H2/20/23 H3/6/23 H3/30/23 S4/4/23 HB1302
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8584 (5) "Public safety employee" means a public employee who is: 1
8685 (A) A probation officer, surveillance officer, or adult or 2
8786 juvenile detention officer employed by this state or a political subdivision 3
8887 of this state; 4
8988 (B) A firefighter; or 5
9089 (C) A police officer; and 6
9190 (6) "Traumatic event" means an individual's direct exposure in 7
9291 the line of duty to an incident involving: 8
9392 (A) The extraordinary traumatic bodily injury or death of 9
9493 a person; 10
9594 (B) The serious injury, death, abuse, or exploitation of a 11
9695 minor; 12
9796 (C) An immediate threat to the life of the individual or 13
9897 another person; or 14
9998 (D) A mass casualti es event. 15
10099 (b)(1) A public employer that employs a public safety employee shall 16
101100 provide coverage for licensed counseling for a public safety employee who 17
102101 experiences a traumatic event while in the course of duty. 18
103102 (2)(A) The coverage under subdivision ( b)(1) shall allow for up 19
104103 to twelve (12) licensed counseling visits per calendar year. 20
105104 (B) The public employer shall pay for the licensed 21
106105 counseling visits. 22
107106 (C) The licensed counseling visits may be provided through 23
108107 telehealth. 24
109108 (c) Payment by a pu blic employer for licensed counseling under this 25
110109 section does not create a presumption that a claim is compensable under §§ 26
111110 11-9-113 or 11-9-114. 27
112111 (d)(1) A public employer that provides coverage under subdivision 28
113112 (b)(1) of this section shall ensure that t he following data is compiled as 29
114113 part of the coverage: 30
115114 (A) The number of public safety employees who have 31
116115 participated in licensed counseling; 32
117116 (B) The average number of visits of licensed counseling 33
118117 per public safety employee; 34
119118 (C) The average number of months that a public safety 35
120119 employee participated in licensed counseling; 36 As Engrossed: H2/20/23 H3/6/23 H3/30/23 S4/4/23 HB1302
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125124 (D) The average number of days that a public safety 1
126125 employee who participated in licensed counseling missed work; 2
127126 (E)(i) The total number of public safety employees who 3
128127 participated in licensed counseling and who subsequently filed a workers' 4
129128 compensation claim. 5
130129 (ii) The data compiled under subdivision 6
131130 (d)(1)(E)(i) of this section shall include the number of claims that were 7
132131 approved and the number of claims tha t were denied; and 8
133132 (F) For each public employer: 9
134133 (i) The total amount of work missed by public safety 10
135134 employees who participated in licensed counseling; and 11
136135 (ii) How missed work was accounted for by the public 12
137136 employer or through employee benefits. 13
138137 (2) In implementing subdivision (d)(1) of this section, a public 14
139138 employer shall not compile and report data that is protected under the Health 15
140139 Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104 -191. 16
141140 (e)(1)(A) A public emp loyer shall allow a public safety employee 17
142141 to select the public safety employee's own licensed mental health 18
143142 professional. 19
144143 (B) However, if a licensed mental health professional 20
145144 declines to provide licensed counseling under this section, then the public 21
146145 employer is not required to secure the services of that licensed mental 22
147146 health professional under subdivision (e)(1)(A) of this section. 23
148147 (2)(A) The public employer shall pay the licensed mental health 24
149148 professional in an amount not to exceed the deducti bles and conditions under 25
150149 the public safety employee's current health benefit plan. 26
151150 (B) The public employee is responsible for providing any 27
152151 documentation to evidence the amount billed to the public employee under the 28
153152 current health benefit plan. 29
154153 30
155154 SECTION 2. DO NOT CODIFY. Study of availability of peer support 31
156155 access and licensed counseling for volunteer firefighters — Legislative 32
157156 findings — Reporting requirements — Definitions. 33
158157 (a) As used in this section: 34
159158 (1) "Licensed counseling" means cou nseling provided by a 35
160159 licensed mental health professional; 36 As Engrossed: H2/20/23 H3/6/23 H3/30/23 S4/4/23 HB1302
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165164 (2) "Licensed mental health professional" means a licensed 1
166165 individual who: 2
167166 (A) Specializes in trauma and crisis; 3
168167 (B) Uses evidence-based treatment options; and 4
169168 (C) Is one (1) of the following: 5
170169 (i) A psychiatrist; 6
171170 (ii) A psychologist; 7
172171 (iii) A mental health professional who holds either 8
173172 a master's or doctoral degree related to the mental health profession; 9
174173 (iv) A mental health nurse practitioner or mental 10
175174 health clinical nurse who is: 11
176175 (a) A registered nurse licensed and certified 12
177176 by the Arkansas State Board of Nursing as an advanced practice nurse; and 13
178177 (b) Working within the scope of practice as 14
179178 authorized by law; or 15
180179 (v) A psychiatric physician assist ant who is working 16
181180 under the supervision of a licensed physician; 17
182181 (3) "Traumatic event" means an individual's direct exposure in 18
183182 the line of duty to an incident involving: 19
184183 (A) The extraordinary traumatic bodily injury or death of 20
185184 a person; 21
186185 (B) The serious injury, death, abuse, or exploitation of a 22
187186 minor; 23
188187 (C) An immediate threat to the life of the individual or 24
189188 another person; or 25
190189 (D) A mass casualty event; and 26
191190 (4) "Volunteer firefighter" means a member of a fire department 27
192191 or firefighting unit who: 28
193192 (A) Actively engages in fire suppression, rescue, pump 29
194193 operation, or other firefighting activity; and 30
195194 (B) Receives less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) in 31
196195 total compensation during the taxable year from the volunteer fire department 32
197196 or firefighting unit that the volunteer firefighter services. 33
198197 (b) The General Assembly finds that: 34
199198 (1) Volunteer firefighters provide a valuable and important 35
200199 service to the citizens and communities in this state by participating in a 36 As Engrossed: H2/20/23 H3/6/23 H3/30/23 S4/4/23 HB1302
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205204 firefighting unit that actively engages in fire suppression, rescue, pump 1
206205 operation, or other firefighting activities; 2
207206 (2) Volunteer firefighters may experience traumatic events that 3
208207 experience and training has not adequately prepared the volunteer 4
209208 firefighters to handle and address in a healthy way; 5
210209 (3) A volunteer firefighter who experiences a traumatic event 6
211210 should have access to licensed counseling and other available resources; 7
212211 (4) Coverage for licensed counseling should be made available to 8
213212 a volunteer firefighter who experiences a traumatic event; and 9
214213 (5) In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of licensed 10
215214 counseling for volunteer firefighters and benefits or difficulties in the 11
216215 providing coverage for licensed counseling to volunteer firefig hters, 12
217216 additional data is needed. 13
218217 (c) The State Fire Prevention Commission with the cooperation of local 14
219218 governments interested in participating shall study the availability of peer 15
220219 support access and licensed counseling for volunteer firefighters to eva luate 16
221220 the viability and sustainability of providing coverage for licensed 17
222221 counseling and peer support access for volunteer firefighters. 18
223222 (d) The study under subsection (c) of this section shall include: 19
224223 (1) Evaluating possible ways to fund coverage fo r licensed 20
225224 counseling for a traumatic event for volunteer firefighters; and 21
226225 (2) Developing recommendations for potential legislation that is 22
227226 necessary to implement coverage for licensed counseling for volunteer 23
228227 firefighters. 24
229228 (e) A report summarizing t he results of the study under this section 25
230229 shall be filed with the Legislative Council no later than July 1, 2024. 26
231230 27
232231 SECTION 3. DO NOT CODIFY. EFFECTIVE DATE. Section 1 of this act is 28
233232 effective January 1, 2024. 29
234233 30
235234 SECTION 4. DO NOT CODIFY. Expiration. This act expires January 1, 31
236235 2025, unless extended by the General Assembly. 32
237236 33
238237 /s/Wing 34
239-APPROVED: 4/11/23 35
238+ 35
240239 36