S 3488: Provides a performance of duty presumption for diseases of the heart for members who serve as an ambulance medical technician, ambulance medical coordinator, ambulance medical technician/supervisor or a member who performs ambulance medical technician related services, or a police medic, police medic coordinator, police medic supervisor, bureau director police emergency ambulance services - county, assistant bureau director police emergency ambulance services - county, or a member who performs police medic or police emergency ambulance related services and is employed in the Nassau county police department.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3488 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE January 28, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Civil Service and Pensions AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to disability benefits for certain individuals employed by the Nassau county police department The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding 2 a new section 63-j to read as follows: 3 § 63-j. Certain impairment of health; presumption. Notwithstanding any 4 provision of this chapter or any general or special law to the contrary, 5 any condition of impairment of health caused by diseases of the heart, 6 resulting in the disability or death to a member who serves as an ambu- 7 lance medical technician, ambulance medical coordinator, ambulance 8 medical technician/supervisor or a member who performs ambulance medical 9 technician related services, or a police medic, police medic coordina- 10 tor, police medic supervisor, bureau director police emergency ambulance 11 services - county, assistant bureau director police emergency ambulance 12 services - county, or a member who performs police medic or police emer- 13 gency ambulance related services and is employed in the Nassau county 14 police department, presently employed and who shall have sustained such 15 disability while so employed, who successfully passed a physical exam- 16 ination on entry into service as a member covered by this section, which 17 examination failed to disclose evidence of any disease or other impair- 18 ment of the heart, shall be presumptive evidence that it was incurred in 19 the performance and discharge of duty, unless the contrary can be proved 20 by competent evidence. 21 § 2. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new 22 section 607-m to read as follows: 23 § 607-m. Certain impairment of health; presumption. Notwithstanding 24 any provision of this chapter or any general or special law to the EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD01272-02-5 
 S. 3488 2 1 contrary, any condition of impairment of health caused by diseases of 2 the heart, resulting in the disability or death to a member who serves 3 as an ambulance medical technician, ambulance medical coordinator, ambu- 4 lance medical technician/supervisor or a member who performs ambulance 5 medical technician related services, or a police medic, police medic 6 coordinator, police medic supervisor, bureau director police emergency 7 ambulance services - county, assistant bureau director police emergency 8 ambulance services - county, or a member who performs police medic or 9 police emergency ambulance related services and is employed in the 10 Nassau county police department, presently employed and who shall have 11 sustained such disability while so employed, who successfully passed a 12 physical examination on entry into service as a member covered by this 13 section, which examination failed to disclose evidence of any disease or 14 other impairment of the heart, shall be presumptive evidence that it was 15 incurred in the performance and discharge of duty, unless the contrary 16 can be proved by competent evidence. 17 § 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none 18 of the provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation 19 requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law. 20 § 4. All costs associated with implementing the provisions of this act 21 shall be borne by Nassau county. 22 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately. FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50: This bill would allow certain members who are employed in the Nassau County police department who perform police medic or police emergency ambulance related services to receive a performance of duty (POD) disa- bility benefit if the member is impaired due to a condition of the heart, which shall be presumed to have been incurred in the performance of their duties, unless the contrary be proven by competent evidence. Such presumption will benefit members with a POD provided under Section 607-j of the Retirement and Social Security Law. If this bill is enacted during the 2025 Legislative Session, it would likely lead to an increased number of POD disability benefits for future retirees. We anticipate that there will be an increase of approximately $30,000 in the annual contributions of Nassau County for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026. In future years this cost will vary but is expected to average 0.2% of salary annually. In addition to the annual contributions discussed above, there will be an immediate past service cost of approximately $51,400 which will be borne by Nassau County as a one-time payment. This estimate assumes that payment will be made on February 1, 2026. Further, there would likely be some administrative costs to implement the provisions of this legislation. These estimated costs are based on 118 affected members employed by Nassau County, with annual salary of approximately $16 million as of March 31, 2024. Summary of relevant resources: Membership data as of March 31, 2024 was used in measuring the impact of the proposed change, the same data used in the April 1, 2024 actuari- al valuation. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2024 Report of the Actuary and the 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2024 Annual Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and Control. The Market Assets and GASB Disclosures are found in the March 
 S. 3488 3 31, 2024 New York State and Local Retirement System Financial Statements and Supplementary Information. This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability of the proposed change nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney. This estimate, dated January 24, 2025, and intended for use only during the 2025 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note No. 2025-10. As Chief Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System, I, Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis complies with applicable Actuarial Standards of Practice as well as the Code of Professional Conduct and Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actuaries, of which I am a member.