Tennessee lawmakers approve workers’ comp coverage for firefighters’ PTSD in honor of late Cleveland Capt. Samples
A yearslong effort to provide firefighters working in smaller departments access to workers' compensation coverage for job-related post-traumatic stress disorder problems has finally paid off.
Tennessee lawmakers approved a bill doing just that Friday in the waning hours of their annual legislative session. The widow of the late Cleveland firefighter James "Dustin" Samples watched as it passed the Senate and then the House.
The legislation creates a presumption that a firefighter diagnosed with PTSD as a result of responding to one or more incidents with special factors in the line of duty is covered under workers' compensation. The bill requires the Department of Labor and Workforce to establish an administrative grant program. Employers will be required to develop and implement a mental health awareness training program to mitigate costs to them and encourage diagnoses.
Cost concerns were an obstacle to previous efforts to pass the legislation.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Bo Watson, R-Hixson, said legislators this year decided to take it upon themselves to include funding because the Lee administration did not.