Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon firefighters would have an easier time qualifying for injury benefits when they get cancer under a bill working its way through the Legislature.

Firefighters say they’re more prone to certain types of cancer because they frequently enter buildings where toxic materials are burning.

This proposal would make it so firefighters would no longer have to prove they got those illnesses because of their job.

The Oregon House voted in favor of the plan Tuesday as dozens of firefighters looked on.

The group included Rocky Haines of Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue near Portland.  He says the bill is a relief for firefighters battling cancer.

Rocky Haines: “You throw one more thing on with the bureaucracy of trying to fill out paperwork, and trying to have a claim, it’s just a burden that somebody honestly as they’re going through what could be their last days in many cases, doesn’t need.”

There’s no official estimate on how much the change could end up costing Oregon’s workers comp system.  But one analysis pegs the cost of each additional cancer claim at one million dollars.  

The bill now heads to the Oregon Senate.

Online:

Oregon House Bill 2420