Substitute Senate Bill No. 913
Public Act No. 23-35
AN ACT EXPANDING WORKERS' COMPENSATION COVERAGE
FOR POST -TRAUMATIC STRESS INJURIES FOR ALL
EMPLOYEES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsections (a) and (b) of section 31-294k of the general
statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof
(Effective January 1, 2024):
(a) As used in this section:
(1) "COVID-19" means the respiratory disease designated by the
World Health Organization on February 11, 2020, as coronavirus 2019,
and any related mutation thereof recognized by the World Health
Organization as a communicable respiratory disease;
(2) "Eligible individual" means a police officer, firefighter, emergency
medical services personnel, Department of Correction employee,
telecommunicator or health care provider, and on and after January 1,
2024, an employee;
(3) "Emergency medical services personnel" has the same meaning as
provided in section 20-206jj; Substitute Senate Bill No. 913
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(4) "Employee" has the same meaning as provided in section 31-275;
[(4)] (5) "Firefighter" has the same meaning as provided in section 7-
313g;
[(5)] (6) "Health care provider" means (A) a person employed at a
doctor's office, hospital, health care center, clinic, medical school, local
health department or agency, nursing facility, retirement facility,
nursing home, group home, home health care provider, any facility that
performs laboratory or medical testing, pharmacy or any similar
institution, or (B) a person employed to provide personal care
assistance, as defined in section 17b-706, in or about a private dwelling,
provided such person is regularly employed by the owner or occupier
of the dwelling for more than twenty-six hours per week;
[(6)] (7) "In the line of duty" means any action that an eligible
individual is obligated or authorized by law, rule, regulation or written
condition of employment service to perform, or for which the eligible
individual is compensated by the public entity such individual serves,
except that, in the case of a volunteer firefighter, such action or service
constitutes fire duties, as defined in subsection (b) of section 7-314b;
[(7)] (8) "Mental health professional" means a board-certified
psychiatrist or a psychologist licensed pursuant to chapter 383, who has
experience diagnosing and treating post-traumatic stress injury;
[(8)] (9) "Parole officer" means an employee of the Department of
Correction who supervises inmates in the community after their release
from prison on parole or under another prison release program;
[(9)] (10) "Police officer" has the same meaning as provided in section
7-294a, except that "police officer" does not include an officer of a law
enforcement unit of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe or the Mohegan
Tribe of Indians of Connecticut; Substitute Senate Bill No. 913
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[(10)] (11) "Post-traumatic stress injury" means an injury that meets
the diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder as specified in
the most recent edition of the American Psychiatric Association's
"Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders";
[(11)] (12) "Qualifying event" means:
(A) An event occurring in the line of duty on or after July 1, 2019, in
which a police officer, parole officer, firefighter, emergency medical
services personnel, Department of Correction employee or
telecommunicator:
(i) Views a deceased minor;
(ii) Witnesses the death of a person or an incident involving the death
of a person;
(iii) Witnesses an injury to a person who subsequently dies before or
upon admission at a hospital as a result of the injury and not as a result
of any other intervening cause;
(iv) Has physical contact with and treats an injured person who
subsequently dies before or upon admission at a hospital as a result of
the injury and not as a result of any other intervening cause;
(v) Carries an injured person who subsequently dies before or upon
admission at a hospital as a result of the injury and not as a result of any
other intervening cause; or
(vi) Witnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss of a
vital body part or a vital body function that results in permanent
disfigurement of the victim; [, or]
(B) An event arising out of and in the course of employment on or
after March 10, 2020, in which an eligible individual who is a health care
provider is engaged in activities substantially dedicated to mitigating or Substitute Senate Bill No. 913
Public Act No. 23-35 4 of 6
responding to the public health and civil preparedness emergencies
declared by the Governor on March 10, 2020, or any extension of such
emergency declarations; [,] and:
(i) Witnesses the death of a person due to COVID-19 or due to
symptoms that were later diagnosed as COVID-19;
(ii) Witnesses an injury to a person who subsequently dies as a result
of COVID-19 or due to symptoms that were later diagnosed as COVID-
19;
(iii) Has physical contact with and treats or provides care for a person
who subsequently dies as a result of COVID-19 or due to symptoms that
were later diagnosed as COVID-19; or
(iv) Witnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss of a
vital body function of a person due to COVID-19 or due to symptoms
that were later diagnosed as COVID-19; or
(C) An event arising out of and in the course of employment on and
after January 1, 2024, in which an employee:
(i) Views a deceased minor;
(ii) Witnesses the death of a person or an incident involving the death
of a person;
(iii) Witnesses an injury to a person who subsequently dies before or
upon admission at a hospital as a result of the injury and not as a result
of any other intervening cause;
(iv) Has physical contact with and treats an injured person who
subsequently dies before or upon admission at a hospital as a result of
the injury and not as a result of any other intervening cause;
(v) Carries an injured person who subsequently dies before or upon Substitute Senate Bill No. 913
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admission at a hospital as a result of the injury and not as a result of any
other intervening cause; or
(vi) Witnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss of a
vital body part or a vital body function that results in permanent
disfigurement of the victim;
[(12)] (13) "Telecommunicator" has the same meaning as provided in
section 28-30; and
[(13)] (14) "Witnesses" means, for an eligible individual who is a
telecommunicator, hears by telephone or radio while directly
responding to an emergency call that constitutes a qualifying event
under this section and providing a dispatch assignment.
(b) A diagnosis of post-traumatic stress injury is compensable as a
personal injury as described in subparagraph (B)(ii)(III) of subdivision
(16) of section 31-275 if a mental health professional examines the
eligible individual and diagnoses [the] such individual with a post-
traumatic stress injury as a direct result of a qualifying event, provided
(1) the post-traumatic stress injury resulted from (A) the eligible
individual acting in the line of duty if such individual is a police officer,
firefighter, emergency medical services personnel, Department of
Correction employee or telecommunicator and, in the case of a
firefighter, such firefighter complied with Federal Occupational Safety
and Health Act standards adopted pursuant to 29 CFR 1910.134 and 29
CFR 1910.156, or (B) the eligible individual acting the course of
employment if such individual is a health care provider or other
employee, on and after January 1, 2024, (2) a qualifying event was a
substantial factor in causing the injury, and (3) the post-traumatic stress
injury did not result from any disciplinary action, work evaluation, job
transfer, layoff, demotion, promotion, termination, retirement or similar
action of the eligible individual. Any such mental health professional
shall comply with any workers' compensation guidelines for approved Substitute Senate Bill No. 913
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medical providers, including, but not limited to, guidelines on release
of past or contemporaneous medical records.