Key Changes to Medical Presumptions for Heart Disease

Source: The New York State Senate | Senate Bill S4005C

Introduction: A recent amendment to the retirement and social security law has brought significant changes to the way disability retirement allowances are handled for certain members of the New York state and local employees’ retirement system and the New York state and local police and fire retirement system. In this blog post, we’ll summarize the key provisions of the new Section 809, which focuses on the presumptions and evidence requirements for applications based on heart disease. 

Main Points:

• Applicability: Section 809 is specifically applicable to applications for disability retirement allowances made by or on behalf of members of the New York state and local employees’ retirement system or the New York state and local police and fire retirement system.
• Medical Presumptions: Under this amendment, any condition of impairment of health caused by a disease of the heart, resulting in disability, shall be presumed to have been incurred in the performance and discharge of duty and the natural and proximate result of an accident.
• No Requirement to Allege or Establish Accident: Unlike the previous provisions, applications for accidental disability retirement allowance based on a permanent incapacity caused by a disease of the heart no longer need to allege or establish that the member sustained an accident or other incident related to the performance and discharge of duty, nor that notice was provided thereof.
• Rebuttal of Presumptions: The presumptions mentioned above can only be rebutted by competent evidence that the disability is not the natural and proximate result of the performance and discharge of duty.

Conclusion: The recent amendment to the retirement and social security law aims to streamline the process of applying for disability retirement allowances for those with heart disease. By removing the need to prove an accident or incident related to duty and focusing on competent evidence to rebut presumptions, this change seeks to ensure a fairer and more efficient system for affected individuals.

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Source: The New York State Senate | Senate Bill S4005C