The Pennsylvania Heart & Lung Act

Injury victims can often get compensation through Workers’ Comp when they get injured on the job.  This provides some benefits, including total coverage for work injuries, but only 2/3 of lost wages.  Fortunately, the Pennsylvania Heart and Lung Act expands coverage, helping certain workers with certain injuries get full replacement wages during periods of temporary incapacity.

Our attorneys can help you with your underlying Workers’ Compensation claim, plus investigate coverage under the Heart and Lung Act.  If you qualify, we can help you seek those additional benefits to make sure that your lost earnings are fully compensated for qualifying public servants and emergency responders covered under the Act.

For a free review of your case, call our Certified Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at Cardamone Law today at (267) 651-7945.

What is the Pennsylvania Heart and Lung Act?

The Pennsylvania Heart and Lung Act itself is one law that provides for additional compensation for injuries sustained in the course of work.  This law covers police and firefighters from all kinds of departments and public works, getting them additional benefits on top of what Workers’ Comp would pay them and providing the funds directly from the state.  Additional laws are often grouped together with Heart and Lung Act coverage, given that they supply similar coverage for similar employees, but they are expanded slightly to account for other types of injuries or other workers not explicitly covered in the original Heart and Lung Act.

The Acts and Citations

The way that laws are passed in Pennsylvania often puts them under titled acts that are then integrated into other sections of the law or codified in various consolidated and unconsolidated statutes.  The relevant laws here are Act 193 of 1935 – commonly called the Pennsylvania Heart and Lung Act – and Act 534 of 1961, which modified Act 632 of 1959 – collectively known together as “Act 534/632.”

Confusingly, the Heart and Lung Act is actually codified under 53 Pa. Stat. § 637 and Act 534/632 is codified under 61 Pa. Stat. § 951.  Additional related benefits can also be found under 16 Pa. Stat. § 4531.

What These Laws Do

When you get hurt at work, you can usually apply for Workers’ Compensation benefits under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Comp Act.  The Heart and Lung Act and Act 534/632 expand on this to provide additional wage compensation for certain types of workers and certain types of injuries.  Rather than leaving workers with only 2/3 of their wages covered, these Acts give them 100% wage coverage if they qualify.

These funds are also paid directly by the government, ensuring payment and helping injured emergency responders get the money they need while they are out from injuries sustained in the course of their duties.

Affected Injuries

As you might expect from the name, the Heart and Lung Act has a special focus on injuries to the heart and lungs.  This Act specifically names things like tuberculosis, overexertion, and injuries from heat, smoke, and fumes.  However, the terms of the Act are much broader, covering injuries from occupational disease and injuries arising in the course of their job duties.

The other sections discussed here bring in a few more injuries, including assault injuries.

Affected Workers

The Heart and Lung Act is the main focus here, but § 4531 and Act 534/632 have similar effects for a broader range of workers, which is why it is worth exploring those laws in this discussion as well.

The Heart and Lung Act itself has a huge list of workers that the protection applies to, focusing primarily on police, corrections officers, security workers, firefighters, rangers, and transit/housing officers employed by all divisions of government, parks, port authorities, and more.  Essentially all public employees in any sort of policing, security, or firefighting role are included under this coverage.

Act 534/632 brings in more state correctional officers, public welfare employees, and other officials, including those who have firefighting duties in other departments.

Section 4351 also includes nurses, guards, and other workers in jails and workhouses who suffer injuries from assault.

Coverage

As mentioned, Workers’ Compensation covers medical care and 2/3 of lost wages for injured workers in all sorts of industries.  What the Heart and Lung Act and other similar legislation do is provide an alternative path for these payments and increase the total compensation for lost earnings.

Instead of getting paid directly from Workers’ Comp insurance from their employer, these Acts ensure that the state will pay directly for the affected workers’ medical care and lost wages, covering 100% of lost wages while injured workers are temporarily out of work because of qualifying injuries and diseases.  Instead of their Workers’ Comp money going to the workers, the State then collects the Workers’ Comp to pay them back for what they spent.

Benefits of Heart and Lung Act Coverage

Barring any issues or problems with collection, this ensures that covered workers get the payments they need for medical care and lost earnings from Pennsylvania directly.  Then, when Workers’ Comp payments are resolved and dealt out, they go to the state to reimburse them for what they already paid, meaning that covered workers can often get the money they need faster and without as much interruption as they might face trying to go through Workers’ Comp.

These benefits also cover full compensation for lost earnings, paying an additional 1/3 on top of the 2/3 that Workers’ Comp covers.

Does the Heart and Lung Act Only Cover Heart and Lung Injuries?

The Heart and Lung Act’s name is a bit misleading because it actually requires public employers to cover all sorts of injuries sustained in the performance of a worker’s official duties.  While there is specific language making sure there is coverage for heart and lung conditions, this coverage should apply to any temporary injury or health condition related to your specific work duties, including broken bones, sprains, strains, cuts, punctures, and, of course, heart and lung conditions.

How To Qualify for Coverage Under the Heart and Lung Act in Pennsylvania

Workers who want to get Heart and Lung Act coverage or similar coverage under the related laws need to meet a few standards to qualify.  Our Heart and Lung Act attorneys can help you understand your case, determine whether your job qualifies you for coverage, check whether your injury qualifies you, and help you get the benefits you are entitled to under the law.

Qualifying Workers

As mentioned, various public employees qualify for coverage, including most policing and firefighting roles throughout the state.  The whole purpose of the language in the Heart and Lung Act is to broadly include emergency responders from various employers, whether they are directly employed by the state or work for some subdivision like a college or correctional institution.

Performance of Duties

Workers’ Compensation can cover injuries that happen in the scope of the worker’s job, which can be a pretty broad category.  For instance, if you are walking down the hall at work and slip and fall on a wet puddle, that is still within the scope of your job and can be compensated as a work-related injury under Workers’ Comp.

For injuries to qualify under the Heart and Lung Act, they need to have happened to a worker “in the performance of his duties.”  This explicitly includes firefighting duties, which were traditionally harder to get compensation for under the law, given that firefighters and other first responders voluntarily walk into danger as part of their jobs.

This performance of duties requirement is much stricter and refers to injuries that occur while actually carrying out the specific duties of your job.  For example, firefighters can get Heart and Lung Act coverage for injuries while fighting a fire and police can get coverage for injuries while chasing a suspect.  Neither of them would, conceivably, get coverage for something like falling down in an icy parking lot at their firehouse/police station, though that would likely qualify for Workers’ Comp.

Qualifying with Occupational Diseases

With occupational diseases like the heart and lung conditions the Act is named for, it can be harder to prove that they were acquired because of your job.  For example, if you develop heart disease and have a heart attack while fighting a fire or you contract tuberculosis from inmates, it can be hard to say whether those were from some other cause, contracted within the scope of your duty, or contracted from the performance of your duties.  If they are from some other cause, they would not qualify for coverage; if they were within the scope of your duties, they might qualify for Workers’ Comp but not Heart and Lung Act coverage; but if they were within the performance of your duties, then the Heart and Lung Act coverage should apply.

Fortunately, the Act accounts for this.  If a worker has been working for at least 4 years in this job and they contract an occupational disease or accidental injury, the Act looks only at whether it arise “directly out of” their employment and then applies compensation.  There is also a presumption that tuberculosis came directly from their employment.

This can help make sure that things like heart attacks, lung conditions, and other heart and lung injuries are covered for workers who are constantly exposed to dangers over the course of their jobs serving the public.

Severity

The Heart and Lung Act is primarily for temporary injuries and conditions, i.e., things that will involve a temporary period of incapacity before you return to work.  This would cover, for example, a heart attack or smoke inhalation that will heal and allow you to return to your job in a few months.  It is, unfortunately, not for permanent injuries or disabilities, though the other related Acts might cover those areas, as would Workers’ Compensation.

Additionally, you actually need to be incapacitated to get coverage.  If your employer can give you reduced duties or accommodate your injury in some way so that you can continue to work part-time while recovering, you would not need Heart and Lung Act benefits.

How Compensation is Paid

Under the Act, compensation for these injuries is paid directly from the government.  There are specific rules that ensure that, for example, State Police get money from the funds set aside for the State Police and corrections officers get paid by money set aside for the Department of Corrections, but these are all technicalities on the government’s side.  The important part is that your medical bills and lost earnings are all paid directly by the state, city, county, or local government rather than needing to go to your specific department/employer or their Workers’ Comp insurance carrier for coverage.

If you are entitled to Workers’ Comp, then any of those payments are turned over to the state to pay them back for part of what they paid you.  Again, this is essentially a technicality that our attorneys can help you with.

Benefits from Other Acts

If you work for a jail and were injured by inmate violence, then § 4531 gets your medical bills and lost wages paid by the county, much like the payments listed above.

If you are a state penal, Bureau of Corrections, state mental hospital, or other similar worker, or if you work in firefighting roles in other institutions, then Act 534/632 covers your medical expenses and lost wages in the same way discussed above.  The one added effect here is that Act 534/632 benefits also cover 50% of the worker’s full-time salary paid as death benefits to a widow and minor dependents if the injured worker passes away within a year because of their injuries.

Applying for Heart and Lung Act Benefits in Pennsylvania

The process of applying goes through your employer, where you file an injury report indicating the nature of your injury, how it happened during the course of your duties, that it is temporary, that you are unable to work, and that you otherwise qualify for Heart and Lung Act benefits.  If you have any trouble applying or if your public employer rejects your claim, then we can fight to get your benefits granted.  Any hearings for these benefits are usually departmental hearings within the department or government entity you work for rather than trials in a Common Pleas court or Workers’ Comp hearings before a Workers’ Comp Judge.

Can I Be Kicked Off Heart and Lung Act Benefits?

Since these benefits are administered by the department and government, there may not always be transparent or obvious processes for these benefits, but it is possible to be kicked off of Heart and Lung Act benefits if you stop qualifying for them while receiving them.  Remember, these benefits are only for qualifying employees who work in qualifying positions and have qualifying temporary injuries.  If your condition develops into a permanent disability and prevents you from going back to your job, you might have your benefits revoked.  Additionally, if you quit your position or take a job with a private employer or a public employer in a different sector, you might no longer qualify, given that you are showing you are able to work and you no longer hold a qualifying first responder/public employee position.

If your employer tries to get you to take a job or position that might jeopardize your benefits or if you are considering returning to work, always speak with a lawyer first to understand how this will affect your benefits and what steps you might need to take to stop your benefits before returning to work.  The same is true if you are considering retiring or leaving the workforce; make sure to speak with a lawyer about how this would affect your benefits.

How Heart and Lung Act Benefits Interact with Workers’ Compensation Benefits in Pennsylvania

Our attorneys are focused on getting injured workers the benefits they need, regardless of whether they come from the Heart and Lung Act or the Workers’ Compensation Act.  Many injured workers in the public sector who qualify for Heart and Lung Act benefits will also qualify for Workers’ Compensation benefits, and our lawyers can help you get compensation under both systems and deal with the way these benefits interact.

Qualifications for Workers’ Comp

Workers’ Compensation covers workers injured in the scope of their work for any work-related injuries.  This can include the kinds of things that might be covered by the Heart and Lung Act, but any employee can qualify under Workers’ Comp, whether they are public employees/first responders or not.  This makes Workers’ Comp much broader.

As mentioned above, qualifying injuries are work-related if they happen in the scope of the worker’s employment, which is much broader than the performance of duties requirement for the Heart and Lung Act.  For example, a firefighter who gets injured at the firehouse or while running a training exercise might be covered under Workers’ Compensation, whereas an injury for the Heart and Lung Act would likely have to come from actually running into a burning building or operating firefighting equipment.

Workers’ Compensation also covers temporary and permanent injuries.  While the Heart and Lung Act can cover you if your injury is temporary and you will eventually return to work, Workers’ Comp can cover you during periods of total incapacity that will last weeks, months, or years, or even in cases of permanent disability that will prevent you from ever returning to work.

Additionally, Workers’ Comp can pay for situations where you are partially disabled; the Heart and Lung Act cannot.  If you broke your leg, for example, you might be able to return to work in a cast and boot to perform alternative tasks and reduced hours after a week or two.  During the week or two that you are out of work, the Heart and Lung Act might cover you, but Workers’ Comp can continue to cover you during periods of partial incapacity.

Differences in Benefits

Workers’ Compensation and the Heart and Lung Act both pay for medical bills, so whichever one you are receiving benefits through will cover these in full.  The main difference in coverage is the wage-loss benefits you can receive.

When you get Workers’ Compensation alone, you usually get 2/3 of your average weekly wage (AWW).  If you are on partial disability and work to some extent while on benefits, you get 2/3 of the difference in your pre-injury and post-injury AWW.  There are also caps set according to the statewide AWW.  Partial disability benefits can last for a total of 500 weeks, while total disability benefits can last as long as you are totally disabled, including for permanent disabilities.

If you get Heart and Lung Act benefits, they will pay 100% of your salary while you are on temporary disability, essentially covering the extra 1/3 that Workers’ Comp does not cover.  The Heart and Lung Act does not cover permanent disabilities or partial disabilities that allow you to keep working.

Workers’ Comp also pays benefits straight to the worker for permanent injuries, lost function, facial scarring, lost hearing, and lost vision that the Heart and Lung Act does not pay, so it is often worth it to apply to both systems if you suffered these kinds of injuries.

Example

Let’s look at an example: in Pennsylvania, the average firefighter salary is around $80,000.  Weekly, this pays around $1,538/week.

If you were on Heart and Lung Act benefits in 2025, the state should pay you your full $1,538/week.  On Workers’ Comp, 2/3 of this benefit would be $1,023.33/week.

If you can return to part-time work making, for example, $800/week while you continue to recover, Heart and Lung Act benefits would stop, but Workers’ Comp could still pay you 2/3 of the difference – $492/week on top of your $800/week ($1,292 total/week) – for up to 500 weeks while you continue to recover.  If, at any point, you return to total disability from a worsened condition or flare-up, the Heart and Lung Act might go back to paying $1,538/week, while Workers’ Comp could only return to covering $1,023.33/week.

Payment for Simultaneous Benefits

If you qualify for Workers’ Compensation benefits while you are on Heart and Lung Act benefits, you have to hand your Workers’ Comp pay over to the state.  This essentially pays the state back for the bigger benefits they are already paying you and stops you from taking 167% of your normal pay when you combine both payment systems.

Call Our Heart and Lung Act Attorneys Today in Pennsylvania

If you need help with a work injury that might qualify under the Pennsylvania Heart and Lung Act, call our Heart and Lung Act lawyers at Cardamone Law today at (267) 651-7945 for a free case review.