Committee Substitute
House Bill 4459 History
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COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 4459
(By Delegates Caputo, Perdue, Fleischauer,
Butcher, Eldridge, Guthrie, Mahan, Longstreth,
Manchin, Marshall and Boggs
)
(Originating in the House Committee on the Judiciary)
[February 25, 2010]
A BILL to amend and reenact §23-4-15 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to increasing from one year to two
years the time in which a dependent may apply for Workers
Compensation death benefits where occupational pneumoconiosis
is determined to be a cause of death.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §23-4-15 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. DISABILITY AND DEATH BENEFITS.
§23-4-15. Application for benefits.
(a) To entitle any employee or dependent of a deceased
employee to compensation under this chapter, other than for
occupational pneumoconiosis or other occupational disease, the
application for compensation shall be made on the form or forms
prescribed by the commission and, effective upon termination of the commission, the Insurance Commissioner, and filed with the
commission, successor to the commission, other private carrier or
self-insured employer, whichever is applicable, within six months
from and after the injury or death, as the case may be, and unless
filed within the six months period, the right to compensation under
this chapter is forever barred, such time limitation being hereby
declared to be a condition of the right and hence jurisdictional,
and all proofs of dependency in fatal cases must also be filed with
the commission within six months from and after the death. In case
the employee is mentally or physically incapable of filing the
application, it may be filed by his or her attorney or by a member
of his or her family.
(b) To entitle any employee to compensation for occupational
pneumoconiosis under the provisions of this subsection, the
application for compensation shall be made on the form or forms
prescribed by the commission and effective upon termination of the
commission, the Insurance Commissioner, and filed with the
commission, successor to the commission, other private carrier or
self-insured employer, whichever is applicable, within three years
from and after the last day of the last continuous period of sixty
days or more during which the employee was exposed to the hazards
of occupational pneumoconiosis or within three years from and after
a diagnosed impairment due to occupational pneumoconiosis was made
known to the employee by a physician and unless filed within the
three-year period, the right to compensation under this chapter is forever barred, such time limitation being hereby declared to be a
condition of the right and hence jurisdictional, or, in the case of
death, the application shall be filed by the dependent of the
employee within one year two years from and after the employee's
death, and such time limitation is a condition of the right and
hence jurisdictional.
(c) To entitle any employee to compensation for occupational
disease other than occupational pneumoconiosis under the provisions
of this section, the application for compensation shall be made on
the form or forms prescribed by the commission and, effective upon
termination of the commission, the Insurance Commissioner, and
filed with the commission, successor to the commission, other
private carrier or self-insured employer, whichever is applicable,
within three years from and after the day on which the employee was
last exposed to the particular occupational hazard involved or
within three years from and after the employee's occupational
disease was made known to him or her by a physician or which he or
she should reasonably have known, whichever last occurs, and unless
filed within the three-year period, the right to compensation under
this chapter shall be forever barred, such time limitation being
hereby declared to be a condition of the right and therefore
jurisdictional, or, in case of death, the application shall be
filed as aforesaid by the dependent of the employee within one year
from and after the employee's death, and such time limitation is a
condition of the right and hence jurisdictional.