There is a bill being proposed in Florida that asks that firefighters and paramedics qualify for cancer disability for any kind of cancer, there would be a presumption that their line of work was the cause of whatever kind of cancer they have. Cities across the state are trying to get that piece of legislation scaled back because they think it covers too much. There have been attempts to get a cancer presumption bill through the Florida legislature before but none have been passed.

Senate Bill 456 and House Bill 345 establish any cancer diagnosis as work-related, and patients can then qualify for workers’ compensation. There are about 41,500 of these workers in the state and all of their benefits would come from the government as they are state or locally employed. The Florida League of Cities thinks that the bill would cost them a lot and that the bill is a little bit far-reaching. They would like to amend the bill to exclude tobacco users, and would like to establish a list of work-related cancers. The League’s attorney, Kraig Conn, says that this bill goes beyond the scope of other cancer presumptions in place around the country. There are 33 other states with various cancer presumptions for firefighters.

The state has a presumption for heart and high blood pressure claims, and there is another statute that provides firefighters, paramedics, and police with protections from occupational diseases. The worker has to prove they have had significant exposure to a substance present in the workplace that caused their illness in order to qualify for benefits. Firefighters say it can be hard to “prove” when and where their disease developed as the kinds of diseases that firefighters suffer from tend to accumulate over time after they’ve fought many fires.

A study from the Centers for Disease Control’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health was started in 2010 to look at whether firefighters were at a higher risk of developing cancer or at risk of other hazards because of their job. It is ongoing but they have published preliminary results which show that firefighters were more likely to develop respiratory, digestive and urinary types of cancers than the general population, more specifically lung cancer and leukemia. They also develop mesothelioma more than the general population, perhaps because they go into buildings with asbestos or because of by-products given off from fires.

The bill is currently in the Governmental Oversight and Accountability’s office of the Senate, having been voted favorable by the Community Affairs Committee.