POLITICAL AFFAIRS

CUNNINGHAM PUSHES LAW TO PROTECT FIRST RESPONDERS WITH LONG-TERM COVID-19 ILLNESS

SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Bill Cunningham advanced legislation that ensures Chicago police officers, firefighters and paramedics who contracted COVID-19 while on the job will receive the disability benefits they earned.

“Chicago first responders are entitled to the exact same health and safety protections that were provided to other essential workers during the pandemic,” said Cunningham, a Democrat who represents portions of Chicago and the Southwest Suburbs. “If the Chicago police and fire pension funds are going to claim a legal technicality to refuse to protect our first responders, then the state legislature will have to step in to put protections in place. That is exactly what House Bill 3162 does — it requires the Chicago pension funds to grant the same COVID-19 presumption that all other workers receive.”

As a result of this presumption, affected police officers and firefighters would be entitled to 75% of their salary at the time of disability and duty disability benefits, instead of the current 50% under ordinary disability benefits. The legislation applies retroactively, providing relief to those who were denied full duty disability benefits after contracting COVID-19 while on the job.

Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza has been leading the fight for passage of House Bill 3162. Her brother was denied full duty disability benefits after contracting COVID-19 while working 17 straight days before a vaccine was available in November 2020. Police Sergeant Joaquin Mendoza spent 72 days in the hospital, suffered kidney failure, had five strokes, and lost the use of his left arm. If he had been granted full duty disability, he would have received 75% of his salary and health insurance. His claim was denied and he was instead granted 50% of his salary for no more than four years, regardless of injury, and had his health insurance canceled.

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HFS and sister agency, the Department of Human Services (DHS), have been adding staff, including case workers. HFS has also embarked on a campaign that weaves in the Illinois Navigator program, the HFS Application Agent program, community health centers, community-based organizations, and public health partners to coordinate available resources for Illinois residents that will be most impacted by the restart of the Medicaid redetermination process.

In March, HFS launched a multi-platform outreach campaign called Ready to