AN ACT RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- CANCER BENEFITS FOR FIRE FIGHTERS .

Broader firefighter cancer benefits with claim limits

Effective upon passage, Rhode Island firefighters get disability and related benefits when occupational cancer develops during service and prevents their work. Coverage includes state firefighters; municipal firefighters must work for a municipality participating in the optional police and firefighter retirement system. Retired city and town firefighters who develop occupational cancer are also covered, and that protection applies retroactively. The law treats any type of cancer as job-related, a finding that cannot be challenged when the presumption applies. For firefighters hired after July 22, 2020, this presumption does not apply if a hiring exam found cancer, they have less than two years of fire department employment, or they regularly or habitually used tobacco during the five years before diagnosis. The presumption applies retroactively to cancer-related illness, injury, and disability claims pending on or after July 22, 2020.