An Act To Establish a Conditional Presumption of Compensability for Corrections Employees in Cases of Impairment from Hypertension or Heart Disease

Sec. 1. 39-A MRSA §328-C  is enacted to read:

§ 328-C.  Heart disease or hypertension suffered by a corrections officer

There is a rebuttable presumption that an employee of the State or of a county whose regular or incidental duties require the care, supervision or custody of a person confined in a jail, prison or state correctional facility pursuant to an order of a court or as a result of an arrest and who contracts heart disease or hypertension has contracted the heart disease or hypertension in the course of employment and as a result of that employment, that sufficient notice of the heart disease or hypertension has been given and that the heart disease or hypertension was not occasioned by any willful act of that employee to cause the heart disease or hypertension, as long as the employee successfully passed a physical examination upon entry into that employment, or during the time of that employment, that failed to reveal any evidence of that condition.

SUMMARY

This bill amends the workers' compensation laws by adding a presumption that heart disease or hypertension suffered by a state or county corrections employee was caused in the course of that employment, as long as the employee had successfully passed a physical examination upon entry into or during the course of that employment that failed to reveal any evidence of that condition.