HB 6478 Summary

• Increases maximum duration for partial permanent disability benefits from 520 weeks to the lesser of five times the duration of permanent partial disability benefits or 780 weeks, with commissioner discretion on eligibility.

• Expands employer anti-retaliation protections to prohibit deliberately misinforming or dissuading employees from filing workers' compensation claims, with remedies including reinstatement, back wages, and attorney's fees.

• Establishes a presumption that COVID-19 contracted during gubernatorial emergency declarations is an occupational disease, rebuttable only by clear preponderance of evidence that employment was not the direct cause.

• Increases burial expenses from $4,000 to $20,000 for employees who died on or after the bill's effective date, with annual cost-of-living adjustments beginning January 1, 2022.

• Requires Workers' Compensation Commission to file monthly reports on COVID-19 claims from July 1, 2021 through January 1, 2023, including claim counts, contested cases, and adjudication timelines.