Board hears federal PSOB briefing: certain cancers now presumptive, retroactive claims window extends to 2028

Tammy Sadler, staff to the board, opened a briefing on the federal Public Safety Officers' Benefits program, saying the presentation was intended as an overview and that recent congressional action prompted the update. "There's been some changes recently in congressional legislation, and so, that's why I'm bringing this to the board," Sadler said.

The federal PSOB program — administered by the U.S. Department of Justice — expanded in December 2025 to add a set of presumptive cancers eligible for benefits. Sadler told the board the federal changes are not identical to Washington state's presumptive rules; among other differences PSOB requires five years of active service for presumptive cancers (versus 10 years under state presumptives in some cases) and different look‑back and diagnosis windows.

Pat Ellis, coordinator for the Local Assistance State Team (L.A.S.T.) and chaplain with Puget Sound Fire, described how his team supports families and departments in filing claims. "Having one point of contact for these claims is absolutely vital," Ellis said, explaining that PSOB claims include a Part A (family) and Part B (department) filing and that coordination reduces confusion and unnecessary paperwork.

Ellis and staff said that once cancer presumptives were added at the federal level they initially identified 19 cancer cases to submit and that the list has since grown to 23 cases the team is preparing to file. They noted that volunteers — who are not covered by Washington's L&I presumptives — are now potentially eligible under PSOB, and that the expansion therefore requires outreach to identify eligible past cases.

Board members pressed staff on practical issues: how police exposures will be proven in the absence of run reports and how record-retention schedules affect claim evidence. Ellis and Chris Gorman (Lacey Fire), who recently met with PSOB staff in Baltimore, described approaches such as run reports, departmental statements and eyewitness affidavits when formal incident records have been purged.

Sadler urged members to start applying even while PSOB develops procedures for implementing the new law and emphasized deadlines for retroactive cancer claims. She told the board she learned PSOB was allowing retroactive filings back to Jan. 2020 and that the agency set Dec. 2028 as the deadline to file retroactive claims arising from the December 2025 enactment.

The board discussed outreach steps: staff has published an intermediary web page and blog to make PSOB eligibility and next steps easier for members, and the ombudsman office will help connect claimants with L.A.S.T. experts who can act as personal representatives.

The briefing closed with staff advising employers and retirees to preserve incident documentation, register exposures in the PEERS app where available and share contact information so ombuds staff and L.A.S.T. partners can help assemble claims before the Dec. 2028 retroactive window closes.