SB 676

This bill makes various changes to the worker’s compensation law, as administered by the Department of Workforce Development.

Claims and payments

Maximum weekly compensation for permanent partial disability

The bill increases the maximum weekly compensation rate for permanent partial disability from $446 to $454 for injuries occurring before January 1, 2027, and to $462 for injuries occurring on or after that date.

Supplemental benefits for permanent total disability

Under current law, supplemental benefits are payable to an injured employee in cases of permanent total disability or continuous temporary total disability for an injury occurring before January 1, 2003. This bill does the following:

1. Extends the availability of supplemental benefits to injured employees with injuries before January 1, 2020, including certain employees who had preexisting injuries and receive compensation for permanent and total disability under what is commonly referred to as the second injury fund.

2. Raises the amount of benefits available so that the benefits correspond to the benefits in effect for the year 2020.

3. Indexes the benefits so that, on each January 1, the supplemental benefit rate is raised to correspond with the benefit rate that was in effect for the next year.

4. Requires insurers requesting reimbursement for supplemental benefits to do so through electronic means.

Compromise agreements

The bill provides the following with respect to agreements to compromise worker’s compensation claims:

1. That payment pursuant to a compromise agreement, including the full amount of any lump sum payment, may be made directly to an injured employee and need not be paid into an account at a financial institution.

2. That amounts paid under a compromise agreement are not to be considered advance payments. Current law allows DWD to direct an advance payment of unaccrued worker’s compensation benefits in certain cases.

3. A requirement that, when DWD issues an order approving a compromise agreement, DWD include a dismissal of the pending application for hearing and formally close the case.

Statute of limitations

Current law provides for a statute of limitations for bringing claims for worker’s compensation. In the case of occupational disease, the statute of limitations is 12 years from the date of the injury or from the date that worker’s compensation was last paid or, in the case of traumatic injury, six years from that date. However, this statute of limitations does not apply in the case of occupational disease or in the case of certain traumatic injuries, including traumatic injuries causing the need for an artificial spinal disc or a total or partial knee or hip replacement. The bill does the following with respect to these statute of limitations provisions:

1. Adds traumatic injuries causing the need for a shoulder replacement or a reverse shoulder replacement to the list of injuries for which there is no statute of limitations.

2. Expressly provides that the 12-year statute of limitations under the worker’s compensation law may not be tolled, as further specified in the bill.

“Stacking” of disability ratings

Current law requires DWD to promulgate rules establishing minimum permanent disability ratings for amputation levels, losses of motion, sensory losses, and surgical procedures resulting from injuries for which permanent partial disability is claimed. The bill provides that, for purposes of calculating permanent partial disability under those rules, when an employee undergoes the same surgical procedure a second or subsequent time on the same limb for which permanent partial disability is due pursuant to those rules, the employee’s permanent disability rating with respect to those procedures shall be determined by health care providers and not by aggregating (stacking) the ratings from those procedures. The bill reverses

DaimlerChrysler v. LIRC

, 2007 WI 15, in which the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld a cumulative minimum permanent partial disability rating for multiple ligament repair procedures.

Claim and hearing process

The bill makes various changes regarding the hearing and dispute resolution process for disputes for claims for worker’s compensation as follows:

1. The bill provides all of the following with respect to a medical diagnosis of an injured employee, the necessity of the treatment for the employee, and cause and extent of the employee’s disability:

a. That certified reports by physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses are admissible as evidence of the diagnosis, necessity of the treatment, and cause and extent of the disability. Current law provides that certified reports by physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses are admissible as evidence of the diagnosis and necessity of treatment but not of the cause and extent of the disability.

b. That certified reports by licensed audiologists are admissible as evidence of the diagnosis, necessity of treatment, and cause and extent of hearing loss.

2. The bill provides that if, after a party submits an answer or otherwise notifies DWD regarding a pending application on a claim for compensation, DWD determines that an application does not present a justiciable dispute or controversy, DWD must enter an order dismissing the claim without prejudice.

3. The bill provides that if at any time DWD determines that there is no dispute or controversy regarding a pending hearing application for which the parties to the claim are seeking a determination, DWD must enter an order dismissing the claim without prejudice.

4. The bill specifies that certain changes regarding the claims and hearing process that were made in

2023 Wisconsin Act 213

apply retroactively to all claims, regardless of the date of injury.

5. The bill provides that records prepared under the vocational rehabilitation program may be admitted into evidence at worker’s compensation hearings without requiring that a Division of Vocational Rehabilitation counselor be present to authenticate the records.

Medical treatment

The bill provides that, in the case of an inpatient hospitalization of an employee, a health care provider may not restrict the employer’s or insurer’s case management personnel from access to records and participation in discharge planning when required to ensure that an injured worker with a disability has appropriate housing and transportation.

Coverage; liability

Coverage for PTSD for firefighters, emergency medical responders, and emergency medical practitioners

Under current law, if a law enforcement officer or full-time firefighter is diagnosed with PTSD by a licensed psychiatrist or psychologist, and the mental injury that resulted in that diagnosis is not accompanied by a physical injury, that law enforcement officer or firefighter can bring a claim for worker’s compensation benefits if the conditions of liability are proven by a preponderance of the evidence and the mental injury is not the result of a good faith employment action by the person’s employer. Also under current law, liability for such treatment for a mental injury is limited to no more than 32 weeks after the injury is first reported.

Under current law, an injured emergency medical responder, emergency medical services practitioner, or volunteer firefighter who does not have an accompanying physical injury must demonstrate a diagnosis on the basis of unusual stress of greater dimensions than the day-to-day emotional strain and tension experienced by all employees, as required under