General Provisions - Commemorative Month - Maryland Native Plant Month
HB 217 amends Maryland workers’ compensation law to expand and clarify the occupational disease presumption for certain public safety personnel with hypertension. Under the bill, paid and volunteer firefighters, fire fighting instructors, rescue squad members, advanced life support unit members, and sworn members of the Office of the State Fire Marshal may be deemed to have a compensable occupational disease when they meet existing eligibility requirements and demonstrate disablement. The bill specifically adds hypertension to the list of conditions covered by the presumption, alongside heart disease and lung disease.
The bill also sets a more specific standard for when hypertension is presumed: the individual must have blood pressure readings exceeding 140 mm Hg systolic or 90 mm Hg diastolic under the 2022 NFPA 1582 standard, and must have been required to use prescribed medication to treat hypertension for at least 90 consecutive days. For volunteers, the bill retains the requirement that they have passed a suitable pre-service physical examination. The act takes effect October 1, 2025.
HB 217 would amend Section 9-503 of the Labor and Employment Article, which governs workers’ compensation presumptions for certain emergency responders, by expressly adding hypertension to the occupational disease presumption framework. It leaves Section 9-502 intact but ties the new hypertension presumption to the general disablement standard in that section. The practical effect is to make it easier for covered firefighters and related personnel to obtain workers’ compensation benefits for hypertension-related disability or death, shifting the burden away from proving direct causation in individual cases.
The available context shows no recorded votes or committee transcript discussion, so there is no documented floor or committee sentiment to measure. Based on the bill’s subject matter and structure, it appears to be a pro-worker, pro-first-responder measure intended to strengthen benefits for public safety employees exposed to occupational risks. The bill’s framing suggests support for recognizing hypertension as a job-related condition for covered emergency personnel.
The main point of potential contention is the expansion of a workers’ compensation presumption, which can increase employer and insurer liability by making hypertension compensable under specified conditions. Supporters are likely to be firefighters, rescue personnel, and their advocates, who would benefit from easier access to benefits. Opponents, if any, would likely focus on cost, the breadth of the presumption, and whether the medical criteria are sufficiently precise to limit claims to work-related cases.