A bill introduced last week in the U.S. House of Representatives would amend paid sick leave legislation passed in April to assist health care providers and emergency responders who fall ill while battling COVID-19.

We think this is a great idea. The bill — introduced by Rep. Mike Kelly — would amend the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) to provide paid sick leave for health care workers.

When the FFCRA passed earlier this year, it guaranteed eligible workers up to 80 hours of paid leave for health issues stemming from COVID-19. However, the bill’s provisions left out a number of American workers by excluding private businesses with 500 or more employees, and allowed for broad exemptions for entities that employ emergency responders and health care workers, regardless of their size.

Guidelines issued by the Department of Labor permitted health care entities — such as hospitals, doctors’ offices, clinics, laboratories, pharmacies, medical schools and residential facilities — to exempt their workers. If the health care provider chose the exemption, it was not required to offer emergency paid sick leave to its workers.

In response, the New York State Attorney General filed a lawsuit, while the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill in May to remove the exemption for health care workers and emergency responders — but that bill stalled in the U.S. Senate.

We hope Kelly’s bill finds success.

Under the bill, paid leave would be extended to health care workers and liability protections would shield hospitals treating COVID-19 patients from “merit-less” lawsuits.

“(It) will guarantee that our health care heroes are treated fairly if they get sick, while also ensuring their primary focus can be on helping patients, not fighting lawsuits,” Kelly said.

Kelly’s office said among the justifications for the exemption was that all health care workers were needed to staff hospitals and other facilities if COVID-19 should surge. But the notion that health care workers battling COVID-19 themselves could somehow work through their shift is absurd.

Kelly was right when he called the exemption “unfair.” Doctors, nurses and other health care workers have been on the front line of this extraordinary crisis — and have courageously put themselves in harm’s way to save others. They deserve our respect and thanks.

They also deserve to be treated fairly if they contract COVID-19. We hope a bill extending paid sick leave to them gets signed into law.