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Committee endorses trust fund to bridge treatment gap for firefighters diagnosed with occupational cancers
Summary
Lawmakers favorably recommended a substitute to create a firefighter cancer benefit trust fund and trustee board to provide interim financial support while workers' compensation claims are processed; lawmakers and chiefs stressed screenings now find cancers earlier and the fund seeks to speed access to care.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Standing Committee on Friday favorably recommended the second substitute for House Bill 416, which would create a cancer benefit trust to help firefighters begin treatment while workers' compensation claims are processed.
Representative Cheshire, the bill sponsor, said last year’s reforms expanded screening and presumptions for occupational cancers but revealed a gap between detection and receipt of workers' compensation benefits. "This bill . . . will provide coverage for that gap," the sponsor said, explaining the bill establishes a trustee board within the Utah Fire and Rescue Academy to manage the fund and…
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