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SB 173

Workers' Compensation - Occupational Disease Presumptions - Hypertension

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Dawn Gile and 1 co-sponsor

Expands workers’ comp hypertension presumption to covered public safety personnel, easing proof of causation when hypertension meets specified blood pressure and treatment criteria

Hearing 2/25 at 1:00 p.m.
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Bill Summary · SB 173

Summary — SB 173: Workers’ Compensation — Occupational Disease Presumptions — Hypertension

Status (selected): Hearing scheduled Feb 25, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. | Introduced January 2025 (first reading in early Jan) | Effective date (if enacted): October 1, 2025

Purpose / Intent

SB 173 expands Maryland’s workers’ compensation occupational‑disease presumption for certain public safety personnel by clarifying when an individual is deemed to have “disablement” and therefore is entitled to a presumption of compensable hypertension. The intent is to reduce evidentiary hurdles for covered firefighters and related personnel to obtain workers’ compensation benefits for hypertension.

Key provisions

  • Applies the occupational‑disease presumption for hypertension to:

    • Volunteer and career firefighters
    • Firefighting instructors
    • Rescue squad members
    • Advanced life support unit members
    • Fire marshals employed by an airport authority, county, fire control district, municipality, or the State
    • Existing requirements for volunteer applicants (suitable physical exam before service) remain applicable.

  • Establishes objective criteria for demonstrating “disablement” and being deemed to have hypertension under the presumption:

    • Blood pressure readings that exceed 140 mmHg systolic or 90 mmHg diastolic (consistent with NFPA 1582, 2022 edition); and
    • Requirement that the individual has been required to use prescribed medication to treat hypertension for at least 90 consecutive days.

  • Continues interplay with general workers’ compensation law: a covered employee who obtains a presumption is entitled to compensation; presumptions historically are treated as rebuttable (courts have interpreted similar language as rebuttable).

Who is affected

  • Primary beneficiaries: covered firefighters, instructors, rescue/ALS personnel, and certain fire marshals who develop hypertension meeting the statutory criteria — they may need less additional proof to qualify for compensation.
  • Payers: State and local government employers and workers’ compensation insurers (including the State’s insurer, Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance), which may experience additional claims payments.
  • No identified impact on small businesses per the fiscal note.

Fiscal and administrative impact

  • Maryland Fiscal/Policy Note (Dept. of Legislative Services): projected minimal increases in State and local expenditures beginning FY 2026 because the expanded presumption may lead to some additional compensable claims.
  • Chesapeake Employers’ data: 225 filed claims that included hypertension (2019–2024); most hypertension claims were accepted or refiled when disablement later occurred, so the insurer expects only a minimal increase in claims.
  • Revenues are not expected to be affected materially.

Legal and practical implications

  • The bill reduces the claimant’s burden to prove occupational causation for hypertension when statutory criteria are met, but the presumption remains subject to rebuttal in litigation.
  • Aligns the statutory threshold with recognized occupational medical standards (NFPA 1582).

Procedural notes

  • Cross-file / companion: HB 217 (Economic Matters).
  • Fiscal note dated Feb 24, 2025. Hearing on Feb 25, 2025 (per bill information). If enacted, provision takes effect Oct 1, 2025.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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