Under the new law, any employee who is eligible for workers’ comp benefits (which is most working people in the state), may qualify to receive benefits if they suffer PTSI as the direct result of a workplace incident. That incident may involve the person’s traumatic physical injury or someone else’s.
Those who work in dangerous professions like construction can suffer traumatic injuries like amputations, severe fractures, brain injuries and more. Moreover, as we see a disturbing increase in mass shootings at workplaces and other locations, more and more Americans who have survived these events are forever traumatized by what they saw and experienced.
The law lists the events that can qualify as the cause of a person’s PTSI for purposes of receiving workers’ comp benefits for it. These include:
The new law would help all of these survivors get the mental health care they need. To qualify for benefits, a mental health professional must make a diagnosis of PTSI, and the event they experienced or witnessed must be a “substantial factor in causing the injury.”
While this law is an important step in recognizing the effect of trauma on our mental health and well-being and the importance of getting treatment for it as soon as possible, proving any kind of psychological illness or injury is nearly always more challenging than a physical one. If your initial claim is denied, it may help to seek experienced legal guidance to improve your chances of obtaining the compensation you need to help you heal.
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