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Senate panel hears bill to clarify "throat cancer" definition for firefighters' workers' comp claims
Summary
Advocates and firefighter organizations urged the Virginia Senate committee to adopt a technical change to the workers' compensation presumptions so firefighters diagnosed with certain throat/esophageal cancers qualify for presumptive coverage; committee indicated the measure must go to the finance committee.
Senator Sam Rasheed (patron of Senate Bill 920) told a Virginia Senate committee that SB 920 is a technical fix to clarify the definition of “throat cancer” in the Commonwealth’s workers’ compensation presumptions so firefighters and their families do not face denials for coverage. The bill was presented at a committee hearing where firefighter advocates, a widow of a fallen firefighter and fire chiefs testified in support.
The bill’s sponsor said the current code lists “throat cancer” among 12 cancers that create a presumption of occupational origin for first responders but that doctors sometimes code certain cancers (for example, esophageal…
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