SB184_EN

Senate Bill No. 184–Senator Mathews

CHAPTER..........

AN ACT relating to public employees; expanding the definition of “accident benefits” for purposes of industrial insurance to include preventative treatment for hepatitis administered as a precaution to certain local police officers; creating a statutory presumption that hepatitis is an occupational disease for certain local police officers; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. NRS 616A.035 is hereby amended to read as

follows:

616A.035 1. “Accident benefits” means medical, surgical,

hospital or other treatments, nursing, medicine, medical and

surgical supplies, crutches and apparatuses, including prosthetic

devices.

2. The term includes:

(a) Medical benefits as defined by NRS 617.130;

(b) Preventive treatment administered as a precaution to an

employee who is exposed to a contagious disease while providing

medical services, including emergency medical care, in the course

and scope of his employment;

officer or a salaried or volunteer fireman who:

(1) Was exposed to a contagious disease:

(I) Upon battery by an offender; or

(II) While performing the duties of a police officer or

fireman,

if the exposure is documented by the creation and maintenance of a

report concerning the exposure pursuant to paragraph (a) of

subsection 1 of NRS 616C.052; or

(2) Tests positive for exposure to tuberculosis under the

circumstances described in NRS 616C.052; and

(d) Preventive treatment for hepatitis administered as a

precaution to a police officer, full-time salaried fireman or [an]

emergency medical attendant employed in this state. As used in this

paragraph, “police officer” means a sheriff, deputy sheriff,

officer of a metropolitan police department or city policeman.

3. The term does not include:

(a) Exercise equipment, a hot tub or a spa for an employee’s

home;

(b) Membership in an athletic or health club;

vehicle; or

(d) The costs of operating a motor vehicle provided pursuant to

NRS 616C.245, fees related to the operation or licensing of the

motor vehicle or insurance for the motor vehicle.

4. As used in this section:

(a) “Battery” includes, without limitation, the intentional

propelling or placing, or the causing to be propelled or placed, of

any human excrement or bodily fluid upon the person of an

employee.

(b) “Emergency medical attendant” means a person licensed as

an attendant or certified as an emergency medical technician,

intermediate emergency medical technician or advanced emergency

medical technician pursuant to chapter 450B of NRS, whose

primary duties of employment are the provision of emergency

medical services.

any additional diseases or conditions that are associated with or

result from hepatitis A, hepatitis B or hepatitis C.

(d) “Preventive treatment” includes, without limitation:

(1) Tests to determine if an employee has contracted hepatitis

or any other contagious disease to which he was exposed; and

(2) If an employee tests positive for exposure to tuberculosis

under the circumstances described in NRS 616C.052, such

medication and chest X rays as are recommended by the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention of the United States Department of

Health and Human Services.

Sec. 2. NRS 617.485 is hereby amended to read as follows:

617.485 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of this

chapter and except as otherwise provided in this section, if an

employee has hepatitis, the disease is conclusively presumed to

have arisen out of and in the course of his employment if the

employee has been continuously employed for 5 years or more as a

police officer, full-time salaried fireman or emergency medical

attendant in this state before the date of any temporary or

permanent disability or death resulting from the hepatitis.

2. Compensation awarded to a police officer, fireman or [an]

emergency medical attendant, or to the dependents of such a

person, for hepatitis pursuant to this section must include:

(a) Full reimbursement for related expenses incurred for medical

treatments, surgery and hospitalization; and

(b) The compensation provided in chapters 616A to 616D,

inclusive, of NRS for the disability or death.

3. A police officer, salaried fireman or [an] emergency medical

attendant shall [submit] :

(a) Submit to a blood test to screen for hepatitis C upon

employment, upon the commencement of coverage and thereafter on

an annual basis during his employment.

(b) Submit to a blood test to screen for hepatitis A and hepatitis

B upon employment, upon the commencement of coverage and

thereafter on an annual basis during his employment, except that

a police officer, salaried fireman or emergency medical attendant

is not required to submit to a blood test to screen for hepatitis A

and hepatitis B on an annual basis during his employment if he

has been vaccinated for hepatitis A and hepatitis B upon

employment or at other medically appropriate times during his

employment. Each employer shall provide a police officer,

salaried fireman or emergency medical attendant with the

opportunity to be vaccinated for hepatitis A and hepatitis B upon

employment and at other medically appropriate times during his

employment.

4. All blood tests required pursuant to this section and all

vaccinations provided pursuant to this section must be paid for by

the employer.

[4.] 5. The provisions of this section:

(a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b), do not apply

to a police officer, fireman or emergency medical attendant who is

diagnosed with hepatitis upon employment.

(b) Apply to a police officer, fireman or emergency medical

attendant who is diagnosed with hepatitis upon employment if,

during the employment or within 1 year after the last day of the

employment, he is diagnosed with a different strain of hepatitis.

attendant who is diagnosed with hepatitis after the termination of

the employment if the diagnosis is made within 1 year after the last

day of the employment.

[5.] 6. A police officer, fireman or [an] emergency medical

attendant who is determined to be:

(a) Partially disabled from an occupational disease pursuant to

the provisions of this section; and

(b) Incapable of performing, with or without remuneration, work

as a police officer, fireman or [an] emergency medical

attendant,

may elect to receive the benefits provided pursuant to NRS

616C.440 for a permanent total disability.

[6.] 7. As used in this section:

(a) “Emergency medical attendant” means a person licensed as

an attendant or certified as an emergency medical technician,

intermediate emergency medical technician or advanced emergency

medical technician pursuant to chapter 450B of NRS, whose

primary duties of employment are the provision of emergency

medical services.

(b) “Hepatitis” includes hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and

any additional diseases or conditions that are associated with or

result from hepatitis A, hepatitis B or hepatitis C.

metropolitan police department or city policeman.

Sec. 3. 1. Notwithstanding any provision of NRS 617.485, a

person who submits to a blood test to screen for hepatitis on or after

October 1, 2003, but on or before September 30, 2004, and who, on

October 1, 2003:

(a) Is employed as a police officer in this state; or

(b) Had at any time been continuously employed for 5 years or

more as a police officer in this state,

shall be deemed to be in compliance with all blood testing that

would otherwise be required by subsection 3 of NRS 617.485

through the date of the blood test.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of NRS 617.485, a person

who, on October 1, 2003, is employed as a police officer in this

state shall submit to a blood test to screen for hepatitis on or before

September 30, 2004. The blood test must be paid for by the

employer of the person. If a person fails to submit to a blood test

required by this subsection, the conclusive presumption relating to

hepatitis otherwise created by NRS 617.485 shall be deemed with

regard to that person and for the purposes of NRS 617.485 to be a

rebuttable presumption that may only be rebutted by clear and

convincing evidence that the hepatitis was not contracted during the

period in which the person was employed as a police officer.

3. If:

(a) A blood test taken pursuant to this section indicates that a

person has hepatitis; and

(b) Before taking the blood test, the person had at any time been

continuously employed for 5 years or more as a police officer in

this state,

the person is entitled to a rebuttable presumption that the hepatitis

arose out of and in the course of his employment and is

compensable in accordance with NRS 617.485 if he, before

January 1, 2005, files a claim for compensation pursuant to chapter

617 of NRS. The presumption may only be rebutted by clear and

convincing evidence that the hepatitis was not contracted during the

period in which the person was employed as a police officer in this

state.

4. As used in this section:

(a) “Hepatitis” includes hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and

any additional diseases or conditions that are associated with or

result from hepatitis A, hepatitis B or hepatitis C.

(b) “Police officer” means a sheriff, deputy sheriff, officer of a

metropolitan police department or city policeman.

Sec. 4. The amendatory provisions of this act do not apply to

any person who, on October 1, 2003, is receiving compensation for

hepatitis pursuant to chapters 616A to 616D, inclusive, of NRS. As

used in this section, “hepatitis” includes hepatitis A, hepatitis B,

hepatitis C and any additional diseases or conditions that are

associated with or result from hepatitis A, hepatitis B or hepatitis C.

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