FIRST RESPONDER PRESUMED COVERAGE                                                                               H.B. 4171:

                                                                                                                                                                                SUMMARY OF BILL

                                                                                                                                                REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE

House Bill 4171 (as reported without amendment)

Sponsor:   Representative Sue Allor

House Committee:   Insurance

Senate Committee:   Insurance and Banking

CONTENT

The bill would amend Chapter 4 (Occupational Diseases and Disablements) of the Worker's Disability Compensation Act to require certain forest fire officers and fire/crash rescue officers to suspend a workers' compensation claim and instead claim like benefits from the First Responder Presumed Coverage Fund for respiratory tract, bladder, skin, brain, kidney, blood, thyroid, testicular, prostate, or lymphatic cancer.

MCL 418.405                                                                                       Legislative Analyst:   Stephen Jackson

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill likely would result in increased costs from the First Responder Presumed Coverage Fund to support additional claims and administrative costs in the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. The bill would allow forest fire or fire/crash rescue officers who had more than 60 months of active service to be eligible for compensation from the Fund. It is currently unknown how many additional firefighters would be eligible and could have claims paid from the Fund.

The Workers' Disability Compensation Agency oversees administration of the Fund with support from vendors. In calendar year 2020, the Fund supported 21 claims and spent $379,039 to support those claims. The Department anticipates calendar year 2021 costs to total $407,000 for claims. The Department also anticipates additional payments to vendors to support administration of the claims equal to 1.5 FTEs.

Beginning in 2020, the First Responder Presumed Coverage Fund receives annual deposits of $2.0 million each from the Internet Sports Betting Fund and Internet Gaming Fund, after the deposits are made to the Compulsive Gaming Prevention Fund. The $4.0 million deposits into the First Responder Presumed Coverage Fund each year provide excess funding to support long-term claims and likely could support additional claims from newly eligible individuals under the bill.

Date Completed:   10-29-21                                                                           Fiscal Analyst:   Cory Savino

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.