Florida governor signs firefighter cancer benefits bill
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed sweeping legislation that would, among other things, provide firefighters diagnosed with cancer with alternative benefits to workers compensation.
House Bill 989 makes firefighters diagnosed with certain types of cancer eligible to receive specific disability or death benefits and offers a one-time cash payout of $25,000 upon the initial cancer diagnosis.
The law mandates employers to provide coverage for cancer treatment within an employer-sponsored health plan or through a group insurance trust fund, and it requires employers to reimburse firefighters for out-of-pocket deductibles, co-payments or coinsurance costs connected to the cancer treatment.
The legislation says that if the cancer is determined to have been directly connected to work activities, firefighters would be entitled to higher disability and death benefits.
The sweeping law also makes unrelated changes to areas of law other than workers compensation.
