SB89 Summary

• Limits employer liability for permanent total disability benefits to terminate upon the employee's sixty-fifth birthday or 500 weeks after the date of injury, whichever is longer.

• Creates a rebuttable presumption that medical treatment obtained after a two-year gap without related treatment is unrelated to the workers' compensation injury, requiring clear and convincing proof to establish connection.

• Conclusively ends the employer's obligation to pay medical benefits if an employee does not receive medical treatment related to the claimed injury for four consecutive years.

• Preserves existing workers' compensation provisions for temporary total disability, temporary partial disability, permanent partial disability, and death benefits.

• Takes effect on the first day of the third month following passage and approval by the Governor.