OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) - Kansas is changing its workers’ compensation laws to ensure that firefighters and law enforcement officers have their medical expenses covered after a stroke or heart attack on the job.
Gov. Sam Brownback had a ceremony Wednesday at the Overland Park Fire Training Center to re-enact his earlier signing of legislation to revise a 1967 law unintentionally keeping firefighters and law enforcement officers from receiving such benefits.
Brownback signed the bill in April after lawmakers approved it unanimously. The change takes effect July 1.
The 1967 law says workers suffering a stroke or heart attack on the job don’t receive benefits unless it was caused by exertion that was more than employee’s usual work.
Brownback noted that firefighters’ and law officers’ jobs routinely require great exertion, making them ineligible for benefits.
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