Work comp for firefighter cancer diagnoses proposed

The Business and Labor Committee considered a bill March 10 that seeks to provide workers’ compensation benefits to firefighters who develop certain cancers.

LB400, introduced by Fremont Sen. Dave Wordekemper, would amend the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act to include cancer experienced by firefighters as a result of exposure to known carcinogens in the course of their employment.

The bill requires a rebuttable presumption that cancer experienced by an active duty firefighter arose out of the course of employment. The measure would apply to professional firefighters who have been employed for at least five years and to volunteer firefighters.

Retired firefighters would be eligible for medical benefits only and must be diagnosed within 60 months of retiring.

Wordekemper said the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has found that firefighters have a 9% higher risk of cancer diagnosis and a 14% higher rate of cancer-related deaths compared to the general population.

“After years of dedicated service, firefighters often face their cancer diagnosis without adequate support,” he said. “We have a duty as a state government to protect those that protect us.”

John Corrigan testified in support of the measure on behalf of the Nebraska Professional Fire Fighters Association and the Nebraska State AFL-CIO. He said Nebraska law currently presumes that cancer is duty related if a firefighter becomes disabled or dies as a result of the disease, but that same presumption is not provided to firefighters living with a cancer diagnosis.

“If we are going to presume that it is duty related for the purposes of death, then it should be presumed to be duty related for the purposes of living through cancer,” Corrigan said.

Trevor Towey, president of the Omaha Professional Fire Fighters Association, also spoke in favor of LB400, saying the bill could serve as an effective recruitment and retention tool for firefighters in the state.

He said it is becoming increasingly difficult to find young workers willing to do an already dangerous job that also increases their risk of cancer without the necessary medical benefits.

Dallas Jones testified in opposition to the proposal on behalf of Nebraskans for Workers’ Compensation Equity and Fairness and the League Association of Risk Management.

Jones said the bill would create a rebuttable presumption for firefighters under the Workers’ Compensation Act that does not exist for any other type of employee or condition, including individuals who also are exposed to certain carcinogens.

Currently, he said, it is an employee’s responsibility to prove that their condition was a direct result of their occupation, but LB400 would create an exception to that practice for firefighters only.

“Firefighters do outstanding work … but there are lots of employees who are also essential employees for society,” Jones said. “Once that door is opened, the door cannot be closed and the entire structure of the act changes.”

Maddie Hasley, a labor and employment attorney, also opposed the measure. Although employers would have the ability to refute a compensation claim, she said, the bill does not provide a procedural or judicial mechanism for them to do so.

The committee took no immediate action on LB400.