Today marks the last Wednesday of April, and we are quickly speeding towards summer. In this week's Big I Buzz, we are discussing InsurCon2021, Tony Evers' bill regarding Workers' Compensation and what the new CDC guidelines mean for vaccinated and unvaccinated adults. 

Register Today for InsurCon2021

Join us August 10-11 at the Kalahari Resorts in Wisconsin Dells for InsurCon2021! We are looking forward to finally seeing everyone in-person, as well as welcome our keynote speaker, Joe Theismann. Along with Joe Theismann, we also are excited to share that Beth Ziesenis and Bill Pieroni will be featured speakers at InsurCon. If you want to learn more about the speakers and register for InsurCon and the Sunset Dinner Boat Cruise, visit iiaw.com/insurcon!

Gov. Evers Signs Bill to Help Public Safety Officers Struggling with PTSD

Gov. Tony Evers signed into law a bipartisan bill to allow first responders, including police and firefighters, to receive workers' compensation if they've been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Prior to the bill, public safety officers must prove that PTSD was caused by unusual stress compared with what their co-workers regularly experience on the job to claim workers' compensation, according to APG-WI. "The new bill requires a diagnosis from a licensed professional that does not need to be based on the officer suffering greater stress than co-workers." According to WKOW the bill does the following: 

"• Allows payment of worker's compensation benefits if a public safety officer, such as a law enforcement officer or firefighter, is diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder by a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, and the mental injury is not accompanied by a physical injury if proven by a preponderance of the evidence and the mental injury is not a result of a good faith employment action by the employer; and 

• Limits the liability for treatment of such injuries and claims to no more than 32 weeks after the first injury is reported, and restricts compensation for such injuries and diagnoses to three times within an individual's lifetime regardless of change in employment status."

Learn more here. 

CDC Says Many Americans Can Now Go Outside Without a Mask

On Tuesday, the CDC announced its new guidelines for wearing masks outdoors. Americans who are fully vaccinated do not need to wear masks outdoors, unless they are in big crowds of strangers like a concert, festival, etc. Those who are unvaccinated can also go outside without masks in certain situations too. Originally, the CDC stated that all Americans must wear masks when outside if they are within 6 feet of another person. According to the Associated Press, "The CDC says that weather they are fully vaccinated or not, people do not have to wear masks when they walk, bike or run alone or with members of their households. They can also go maskless in small outdoor gatherings with fully vaccinated people. 

For more news, check out the Action news section of our weekly e-newsletter, Big I Buzz. If you aren’t subscribed, click here to add your email to our emailing list. Don’t forget you can stay up-to-date on other industry news as its happening on our Online Community. You can join the Online Community (exclusive to IIAW members)  here . We hope that everyone has a great rest of their week.