BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1609
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1609 (Soto)
As Amended August 23, 2002
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :23-12
INSURANCE 13-1 PUBLIC EMPLOYEES 5-1
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|Ayes:|Calderon, Chavez, Diaz, |Ayes:|Havice, Negrete McLeod, |
| |Dickerson, Dutra, | |Keeley, Pescetti, |
| |Frommer, Havice, Horton, | |Strom-Martin |
| |Keeley, Koretz, Nakano, | | |
| |Vargas, Washington | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Mountjoy |Nays:|Briggs |
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 16-7
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|Ayes:|Steinberg, Alquist, |
| |Aroner, Cohn, Corbett, |
| |Correa, Diaz, Firebaugh, |
| |Goldberg, Negrete McLeod, |
| |Papan, Pavley, Simitian, |
| |Washington, Wiggins, |
| |Wright |
| | |
|-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Bates, Ashburn, Daucher, |
| |Maldonado, Robert |
| |Pacheco, Runner, Zettel |
| | |
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SUMMARY : Extends the rebuttable presumption for a blood-borne
infectious disease to licensed health care professionals for
purposes of receiving both disability retirement and workers'
compensation benefits. Specifically, this bill :
1)Applies the blood-borne infectious disease presumption to
licensed health care professionals, who have completed five
years or more of service, for purposes of receiving disability
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retirement benefits under a pension system established pursuant
to the County Peace Officers Retirement Law, the County Fire
Service Retirement Law, the CountyEmployees Retirement Law of
1937 ('37 Act), or the Public Employees' Retirement System
(CalPERS).
Provides that a licensed health care professional who is
permanently incapacitated as a result of a blood-borne
infectious disease shall receive a service-connected disability
retirement.
2)Provides that a licensed health care professional employed by
the county of San Luis Obispo or by the City and County of San
Francisco who, in the course of his or her employment, has a
documented incident involving a sharp object with exposure to
human blood and other potentially infectious materials shall,
upon adoption of a resolution of the board of supervisors so
declaring, be entitled to the disability retirement benefits
provided for safety employees of the county or city and county,
if he or she otherwise meets the eligibility criteria.
3)Applies the blood-borne infectious disease presumption, in the
context of the workers' compensation law, to licensed health
care professionals.
4)Defines "licensed health care professional" to mean any employee
of a city, county, city and county, or district who, in the
course of his or her employment, has a documented incident
involving a sharp object with exposure to human blood or other
bodily fluids contaminated with blood. Provides that "licensed
health care professional" includes, but is not limited to, a
registered nurse, licensed vocational nurse, certified nurse
aid, clinical laboratory technologist, dental hygienist, dentist
or physician.
EXISTING REGULATIONS :
1)Define "licensed healthcare professional" to mean a person whose
licensed scope of practice includes an activity which the
regulations require to be performed by a licensed healthcare
professional.
2)Define "sharp" to mean any object used or encountered that can
be reasonably anticipated to penetrate the skin or any other
part of the body, and to result in an exposure incident,
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including, but not limited to, needle devices, scalpels,
lancets, broken glass, broken capillary tubes, exposed ends of
dental wires and dental knives, drills, and burs.
3)Require the employer to establish and maintain a Sharps Injury
Log, which is a record of each exposure incident involving a
sharp. Requires the information recorded to include the
following information: the date and time of the exposure
incident; the type and brand of sharp involved in the exposure
incident; and a description of the exposure incident.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that in the case of safety members, firefighters, and
members in active law enforcement who have completed five years
or more of service and who develop heart trouble, cancer, or a
blood-borne infectious disease, there is a rebuttable
presumption that the development or manifestation of the heart
trouble, cancer, or blood-borne infectious disease arises out of
and in the course of employment for purposes of receiving
disability retirement benefits under a pension system
established pursuant to the County Peace Officers Retirement
Law, the County Fire Service Retirement Law, the '37 Act, or
CalPERS.
Provides that with respect to the blood-borne infectious disease
presumption, unless the presumption is rebutted, the board of
retirement must find in accordance with the presumption.
Provides that this presumption applies following termination of
employment for a period of three months for each year of
service, up to a maximum of 60 months, commencing with the last
day worked in the specified capacity.
2)Provides that with respect to the payment of workers'
compensation benefits and in the case of firefighting members of
certain state and local fire departments, certain law
enforcement personnel, and certain lifeguards, the
following"injuries" may be compensable if developed or
manifested during the period of employment: cancer, leukemia,
hernia, heart trouble, pneumonia, tuberculosis, meningitis, a
blood-borne infectious disease, skin cancer, and a lower back
impairment.
a) Specifies that compensation awarded for such injuries
shall include, but not be limited to, full hospital,
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surgical, medical treatment, disability indemnity, and death
benefits as provided by the worker's compensation laws; and,
b) Establishes a rebuttable presumption that such injuries
arise out of and in the course of employment, and that the
Workers' Compensation Appeals Board must find in accordance
with the presumption, unless controverted by other evidence.
Provides that the presumption applies during employment and
extends following termination of employment for a period of
three months for each year of service, up to a maximum of 60
months after the last day worked in the specified capacity.
3)Defines "blood-borne infectious disease" to mean a disease
caused by exposure to pathogenic microorganisms that are present
in human blood that can cause disease in humans, including, but
not limited to, those pathogenic microorganisms defined as
blood-borne pathogens by the Department of Industrial Relations
(DIR). The DIR General Safety Orders provide that "blood-borne
pathogens" include, but are not limited to, hepatitis B virus
(HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV).
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, potentially significant local costs, probably in excess
of $200,000 annually.
COMMENTS: The California Independent Public Employees Legislative
Council (CIPELC) is the sponsor of this bill and has provided the
following information to support the necessity for this measure.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
indicates that healthcare workers face the highest occupational
exposure to blood-borne pathogens. In addition, the State
Department of Health Services issued a report in 2000 that states
that nurses, respiratory therapists, nurses' aides, orderlies and
attendants have the highest risk among healthcare workers. OSHA
estimates that 5.6 million workers in the healthcare industry and
related occupations are at risk of occupational exposure to
blood-borne pathogens. These pathogens include HIV, HBV, and HCV.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
in March of 2000, it is estimated that 600,000 to 800,000
needlestick injuries and other percutaneous injuries occur
annually among healthcare workers. The CDC also has reported that
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HCV infection is the most common chronic blood-borne infection in
the United States. HCV is a viral infection of the liver that is
transmitted primarily by exposure to blood. Currently, there is
no vaccine effective against HCV.
The consequences of occupational exposure to blood-borne pathogens
go beyond infections. Each year, thousands of healthcare workers
experience psychological trauma during months of waiting for
notification of serological results. Other personal consequences
can include postponement of childbearing, altering sexual
practices, side effects of prophylactic drugs, punitive
disciplinary action, job discrimination, loss of employment,
denial of workers' compensation claims, chronic disabilities,
liver transplant, and premature death.
The California Taxpayers' Association (Cal-Tax) opposes this bill
and states that presumptions take disability benefits to an
extreme and unchecked level, granting unnecessary and excessive
disability benefits that have become a cost center for public
agencies. The problem with presumptions is that they expose
employers to benefit costs for which they may have no
responsibility, and they expose taxpayers to benefit costs for
which they should not be forced to pay. For example, a healthcare
worker who contracts hepatitis from a family member at home could
be eligible for benefits if this bill were enacted. Cal-Tax
prefers that these injuries be assessed on a case-by-case basis,
which promotes fairness for all concerned.
This bill is related to SB 361 (Soto) of 2001, which extended the
blood-borne infectious disease presumption to health care
professionals for purposes of receiving disability retirement
benefits. SB 361 was vetoed by the Governor. In his veto
message, the Governor stated,
This bill would increase retirement-related expenses for the
counties by providing service-related disability retirements
to employees whose illnesses have not been shown to be work
related. It would go further by prohibiting the employer
from introducing evidence that the disease was related to a
pre-existing condition. In addition, this bill would expand
a presumption to include workers who were not previously
considered to be at risk. There is no evidence that
employees are being denied service-related retirement
benefits for illnesses that are work related.
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This bill is also related to AB 1817 (Correa), Chapter 138,
Statutes of 2000, which created the blood-borne infectious disease
presumption for purposes of receiving disability retirement
benefits.
Presumption bills in this session include the following:
1)AB 196 (Correa), Chapter 833, Statutes of 2001, which extends
the hernia, tuberculosis, and meningitis presumptions to members
of the California Highway Patrol and expands the scope of the
term "injury" to include a blood-borne infectious disease.
2)AB 663 (Vargas), Chapter 846, Statutes of 2001, which creates a
skin cancer presumption for state and local government
lifeguards.
3)AB 1820 (Strom-Martin), pending in the Senate Committee on Labor
and Industrial Relations, which extends the tuberculosis and
meningitis rebuttable presumptions to volunteer and partly paid
firefighters.
4)AB 1847 (Correa), pending in the Senate Committee on Public
Employment and Retirement, which creates a presumption for an
illness resulting from exposure to a biochemical substance for
purposes of receiving both disability retirement and workers'
compensation benefits.
5)AB 2125 (Negrete McLeod), pending in the Senate Committee on
Labor and Industrial Relations, which creates a Lyme disease
presumption for certain state law enforcement and California
Conservation Corps personnel.
6)AB 2492 (Dickerson), held in the Assembly Committee on
Appropriations, which extends the lower back impairment
presumption to additional peace officers.
7)SB 424 (Burton), Chapter 834, Statutes of 2001, which creates a
lower back impairment presumption for certain law enforcement
personnel.
8)SB 1176 (Machado) of 2001, which extended the cancer presumption
to the following additional categories of peace officers:
employees of the Department of Fish and Game, employees of the
Department of Parks and Recreation, and investigators of the
Department of Toxic Substances Control. SB 1176 was vetoed by
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the Governor.
9)SB 1222 (Romero), Chapter 835, Statutes of 2001, which creates a
heart trouble, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and meningitis
presumption for certain peace officers of the Department of
Corrections and the Department of the Youth Authority, and other
specified peace officers.
10)SB 1395 (Machado), pending in the Assembly Committee on
Appropriations, which creates a skin cancer rebuttable
presumption under the workers' compensation law for peace
officers employed by the Department of Fish and Game or the
Department of Parks and Recreation.
Analysis Prepared by : Christine Ebbink / INS. / (916) 319-2086
FN: 0006962