This police officer got lifetime benefits after being shot. Why that might change.

BY DANIEL DESROCHERS

ddesrochers@herald-leader.com

March 12, 2018 11:42 AM

Updated 7 hours 1 minute ago

FRANKFORT
Connie Higgins thought she was going to die. One normally doesn’t survive being shot in the face. ... Higgins, a 26-year-old police officer in Louisville at the time, was at the end of her shift when she arrived at an apartment with the door kicked down. As she started questioning people, the man who had broken in pulled out a gun and started shooting.
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Now, Higgins is worried that a bill moving through the Kentucky General Assembly will take the benefits she receives away for future injured workers.

House Bill 2 makes several changes to the state’s workers’ compensation system, but the most controversial change would put a cap on how long people with permanent partial disabilities can collect workers’ compensation.

Currently, if someone gets injured on the job, they’re guaranteed lifetime benefits for medical costs associated with that injury. Rep. Adam Koenig, R-Erlanger, who sponsored the bill, said those lifetime benefits can increase costs for employers because their insurers never know when someone will make a claim for an injury that happened years before.
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Daniel Desrochers: 502-875-3793, @drdesrochers, @BGPolitics