A bill approved this week would provide workers compensation benefits to Connecticut firefighters who develop cancer, but another bill providing emergency workers post-traumatic stress disorder relief stalled.

The firefighter cancer bill received bipartisan approval, and it included an amendment detailing how the new benefit would be funded, while the PTSD bill did not.

The state's House of Representatives voted unanimously last Thursday in favor of H.R.5262. The measure allows firefighters who had acquired certain cancers while working to receive workers comp without having to show proof that the illness was caused by their job. Tuesday, the bill was approved by a 35-1 Senate vote.

“They are putting their lives on the line, and this benefit makes it less antagonistic in regards to whether what they are filing is appropriate from a causation standpoint,” said Mark Pew, senior vice president at Duluth, Georgia-based medical management company Prium.

The cancer claims would be paid for by increasing telecommunications taxes, according to an approved amendment that appropriates one penny a month — the maximum amount federal law allows — from a 51-cent telecommunications tax used to fund 911 phone operations. The fund, which will be available in three years, will have an annual maximum contribution of $400,000, legal records said.

Mr. Pew supports the notion of including a funding mechanism when expanding medical benefits. “It's the right thing to do for people who put their lives on the line in public service, but on the flip side, cities and municipalities need to find a way to pay for it,” he said.

A paid or volunteer firefighter needs to pass a physical exam that shows no evidence of cancer and worked or volunteered a minimum of five years before being diagnosed with it, to qualify for the presumption. Firefighters that are no longer actively serving and are eligible can also receive workers comp benefits but need to apply within five years from their last day of active service.

PTSD bill fails

In the same week, a bill for Connecticut police officers and firefighters to receive workers comp benefits for PTSD was struck down by state legislators, according to the state's Office of Policy and Management's legal advisor Jennifer Putetti.

S.B. 134 was a presumption bill that allowed workers comp coverage for police officers, firefighters and emergency responders who witnessed a death and developed PTSD from doing so.

For a state with “approximately 26,650 firefighters, 20,561 emergency responders, 7,279 police officers, 1,116 sworn state police officers” and no way to determine the amount or severity of PTSD claims, the presumption bill would “likely… result in increased (workers comp) premium costs for fully-insured municipalities,” legislators said.

Michael Bourque, senior vice president of external affairs of The MEMIC Group in Portland, Maine, said in an email the PTSD presumption for Connecticut police and firefighters was well intended and likely in response to the slayings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. However, “any expansion of benefits comes with a cost,” he said. “When there are claims, they will make their way into the rates. Insurers understand this, and premiums adjust accordingly.”

Mr. Pew agrees that the presumptions “seem to be the right thing to do from a moral standpoint,” but from a financial standpoint, creating unfunded financial liabilities that a city can't pay in the future needs to be considered as well, he said.

Connecticut Senate Majority Lead Bob Duff said Wednesday in an email that the state senate is looking to revive the content of the bill in another legislative session.