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ACTION NEEDED
Please write a letter using this template to urge Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, chair of the state Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement, to oppose Senate Bill (SB) 632 (Arreguín, D- Oakland). The committee will hear the bill on April 9.
TIMING
Letters should be submitted by noon (PT) on April 2. Please email Coni Segretto, legislative assistant, at csegretto@calhospital.org with a copy of your letter after it has been submitted.
RESOURCES
- Template letter (including option for hospital-specific workers’ compensation data)
- CHA letter
- Resources and messages
BACKGROUND
SB 632 would undermine a highly effective and well-regarded workers’ compensation system in California by creating the first-ever broad-based private sector workers’ compensation presumption that a variety of illnesses and injuries — including COVID-19 — arose in the course of providing direct patient care at hospitals.
Not only would creating these presumptions set a troubling precedent that has the potential to significantly alter the state’s workers’ compensation system, but doing so is also unsupported by data:
- Historical data from the California Workers’ Compensation Institute show that health care employers have one of the lowest denial rates of any sector for workers who file workers’ compensation claims. Health employers approve more than 90% of all claims — irrefutable proof that the system is taking care of its workers when they get sick or are injured on the job.
The conditions that SB 632 would cover are already addressed in the current workers’ compensation system:
- Infectious diseases such as staph infections, tuberculosis, meningitis, bloodborne infections, and respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COVID-19, and all its variants
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Musculoskeletal injuries (muscle, tendon, ligament, nerve, joint, bone, and blood vessel)
- Cancers such as liver, myeloid leukemia, kidney, multiple myeloma, ovarian, breast, nasopharyngeal, thyroid, brain, nervous system, and others
Any increase in workers’ compensation costs will directly and immediately increase the cost of health care at a time when affordability of care is a priority. This action would also make hospitals — already steeling for likely Medicare and Medicaid cuts — even more vulnerable and challenged in providing access to high-quality care. The cost of this new mandate, while difficult to quantify, would likely be astronomical. Even a single claim, which could be filed up to 10 years after employment ends, could be valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.