Workers' Compensation - Occupational Disease Presumptions - Hypertension
HB0347 expands Maryland’s workers’ compensation occupational disease presumptions for certain public safety personnel by adding hypertension to the list of conditions presumed to be job-related. Under the bill, a paid firefighter, paid firefighting instructor, paid rescue squad member, paid advanced life support unit member, or sworn member of the Office of the State Fire Marshal employed by specified public employers is presumed to have suffered a compensable occupational disease and to be disabled if the person has been diagnosed with hypertension by an authorized provider, has been prescribed medication for at least 90 consecutive days, has at least two years of cumulative service in Maryland in one of the covered positions, and is employed in one of those positions at the time of claim application. The bill also preserves the existing presumptions for heart disease and lung disease and clarifies how claims for those conditions interact with hypertension claims.
The bill amends Labor and Employment § 9-503 to create a new statutory presumption that hypertension in covered firefighters and related emergency responders is an occupational disease suffered in the line of duty and compensable under workers’ compensation law. It also ties that presumption to disability under § 9-502 and limits duplicative recovery by providing that an individual may not receive duplicate benefits for the same condition, while also addressing the relationship between workers’ compensation and disability retirement benefits, subject to collective bargaining agreements. The law takes effect October 1, 2026, and applies to the specified public employers and covered employees statewide.
The available record shows no committee transcript or recorded votes, but the bill’s enactment indicates it moved successfully through the General Assembly and was approved by the Governor. The measure appears consistent with a generally supportive policy approach toward first responders, particularly by recognizing hypertension as a presumptively work-related condition for covered public safety personnel. The absence of recorded opposition in the provided materials suggests limited visible controversy in the available legislative history.
The main policy issue is the expansion of presumptive workers’ compensation coverage, which can increase employer and insurer liability for hypertension claims by firefighters and related responders. A secondary point of tension is the bill’s interaction with disability retirement systems: the statute states that, except as otherwise provided in a collective bargaining agreement, a person qualifying for compensation under the new hypertension presumption may not also receive disability retirement benefits based on the same condition. The bill also preserves separate claim requirements for heart disease and lung disease and bars duplicative benefits, which may matter for claim administration and benefit coordination.