Senate Passes Schaffer Bill Closing Gap in First Responders' Workers Compensation Coverage

COLUMBUS - The Ohio Senate passed Senate Bill 106 today, sponsored by State Senator Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster) to close a loophole in workers compensation coverage for nurses and physicians exposed to bodily fluids on air ambulance flights. Under current workers’ compensation law, their pathogen testing expenses are not covered should they need testing for bloodborne pathogens.
 
Senate Bill 106 expands the category of those eligible for workers’ compensation coverage for testing for bloodborne pathogens after exposure to include nurse and physicians.

"This is a genuinely odd quirk in the law, brought to my attention by a constituent who is a flight nurse," said Schaffer. "Thankfully, she is also licensed as a paramedic and was able to obtain workers compensation coverage when she needed testing after being exposed to potentially deadly diseases. Excluding doctors and nurses from coverage is something I knew we had to fix immediately."

Paramedics, EMTs, and other first responders are already eligible to receive workers’ compensation for bloodborne pathogen testing, but not physicians and nurses, who are required to be present on a rotorcraft or fixed wing air ambulance.