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...
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