Bill 3035

                    Current Status

Bill Number:               3035
Ratification Number:       545
Act Number                 438
Introducing Body:          House
Subject:                   Relating to the reimbursement of
                           employers and insurance carriers under the
                           Workers' Compensation Second Injury Fund

(A438, R545, H3035)

AN ACT TO AMEND 42-9-400, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE REIMBURSEMENT OF EMPLOYERS AND INSURANCE CARRIERS UNDER THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION SECOND INJURY FUND, SO AS TO ADD PULMONARY DISEASE, CANCER AND SICKLE-CELL ANEMIA TO SPECIFIC DISABILITIES IN THE DEFINITION OF "PERMANENT PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENTS" AND PROVIDE THAT THE AMENDMENT SHALL NOT BE RETROACTIVE.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Definition

Section 1. Subsection (d) of Section 42-9-400 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(d) As used in this section, 'permanent physical impairment' means any permanent condition, whether congenital or due to injury or disease, of such seriousness as to constitute a hindrance or obstacle to obtaining employment or to obtaining reemployment if the employee should become unemployed.

When an employer establishes his prior knowledge of the permanent impairment, then there shall be a presumption that the condition is permanent and that a hindrance or obstacle to employment or reemployment exists when the condition is one of the following impairments:

(1) Epilepsy

(2) Diabetes

(3) Cardiac disease

(4) Arthritis

(5) Amputated foot, leg, arm or hand

(6) Loss of sight of one or both eyes or partial loss of uncorrected vision of more than seventy-five percent bilateral

(7) Residual disability from poliomyelitis

(8) Cerebral palsy

(9) Multiple sclerosis

(10) Parkinson's disease

(11) Cerebral vascular accident

(12) Tuberculosis

(13) Silicosis

(14) Psychoneurotic disability following treatment in a recognized medical or mental institution

(15) Hemophilia

(16) Chronic osteomyelitis

(17) Ankylosis of joints

(18) Hyperinsulinism

(19) Muscular dystrophy

(20) Arteriosclerosis

(21) Thrombophlebitis

(22) Varicose Veins

(23) Heavy metal poisoning

(24) Ionizing radiation injury

(25) Compressed air sequelae

(26) Ruptured intervertebral disc

(27) Hodgkins disease

(28) Brain damage

(29) Deafness

(30) Cancer

(31) Sickle-cell anemia

(32) Pulmonary disease

(33) Mental retardation provided that employee's intelligence quotient is such that he falls within the lowest percentile of the general population. However, it shall not be necessary for the employer to know the employee's actual intelligence quotient or actual relative ranking in relation to the intelligence quotient of the general population.

(34) Any other pre-existing disease, condition or impairment which is permanent in nature and which:

(a) Would qualify for payment of weekly disability benefits of seventy-eight weeks or more under Section 42-9-30 exclusive of benefits payable for disfigurement; or

(b) Would support a rating of seventy-eight or more weeks of weekly disability benefits when evaluated according to the standards applied to workers' compensation claims in South Carolina, or combines with a subsequent injury to cause a permanent impairment rated at seventy-eight weeks or more under Section 42-9-30."

Amendment to be construed as retroactive

Section 2. The amendment to Section 42-9-400 of the 1976 Code as contained in Section 1 of this act shall not be construed to be retroactive and shall not apply to workers' compensation claims filed prior to the effective date of this act.

Time effective

Section 3. This act shall take effect upon the approval by the Governor.