Bill Text: NJ A2354 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires certain physicians to perform examination for potential brain injury related to workers' compensation award; requires Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development to mandate brain injury training and protocol for employers and insurance carriers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-03 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Labor Committee [A2354 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A2354-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Requires certain physicians to perform examination for potential brain injury related to workers' compensation award; requires Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development to mandate brain injury training and protocol for employers and insurance carriers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning workers' compensation for brain injuries and amending P.L.1980, c.90 and supplementing chapter 15 of Title 34 of the Revised Statutes (C.34:15-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.34:15-68 is amended to read as follows:
34:15-68. a. In all cases where it shall be necessary to make a physical examination of an employee in an inquiry to award compensation, the examination shall be made by a physician who is the same sex as the employee if so requested by the employee.
b. In all cases involving an employee who was injured in a blast or some other instance in which an employee could have sustained traumatic brain injury, a physician whose scope of practice includes the ability to diagnose and treat brain injury shall perform any physical examination of the employee in an inquiry to award compensation.
As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
"blast" means a destructive wave of highly compressed air spreading outward from an explosion;
"traumatic brain injury" means a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating brain injury that disrupts the function of the brain.
(cf: P.L.1980, c.90, s.10)
2. (New section) The Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development shall adopt rules and regulations which:
a. require employers to undergo training and education with respect to brain injury from a blast, or some other instance in which an employee could have sustained traumatic brain injury, developed by workers' compensation insurance carriers of employers, or workers' compensation third-party administrators, in consultation with the commissioner, as a condition of workers' compensation insurance coverage;
b. require workers' compensation insurance carriers of employers or workers' compensation third-party administrators to receive information on concussion and brain injury protocol consistent with the protocol developed regarding concussions in P.L.2010, c.94 (C.18A:40-41.1 et seq.), and any additional guidelines developed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the State Department of Health; and
c. prohibit a workers' compensation insurance carrier of an employer or a workers' compensation third-party administrator from releasing an employee from workers' compensation coverage unless the release is within the scope of the recovery plans of the employee's treating physician.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires a physician whose scope of practice includes the ability to diagnose and treat brain injury to perform any physical examination of an employee in an inquiry to award compensation in all cases involving an employee who was injured in a blast or some other instance in which an employee could have sustained traumatic brain injury. Under the bill, "blast" means a destructive wave of highly compressed air spreading outward from an explosion.
Additionally, the bill requires the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development to adopt rules and regulations which:
a. require employers to undergo training and education with respect to brain injury from a blast, or some other instance in which an employee could have sustained traumatic brain injury, as a condition of workers' compensation insurance coverage;
b. require workers' compensation insurance carriers of employers or workers' compensation third-party administrators to receive information on concussion and brain injury protocol consistent with the existing protocol developed regarding concussions in State law, and any additional guidelines developed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the State Department of Health; and
c. prohibit a workers' compensation insurance carrier of an employer or a workers' compensation third-party administrator from releasing an employee from workers' compensation coverage unless the release is within the scope of the employee's treating physician's recovery plans.
Brain injury from a blast can occur even without direct trauma to a person's head. An employer may not be aware that blasts can cause brain injury and may not realize an employee injured in a blast should be evaluated and possibly treated for brain injury. This bill would require an examination by a physician with experience in diagnosing and treating brain injuries in any case in which an employee is injured from a blast, or some other instance in which an employee could have sustained traumatic brain injury, as well as mandate education and training for employers and insurance carriers, so that brain injuries from blasts do not go undetected and untreated.
