Florida Senate - 2019 SB 426
By Senator Flores
39-00816A-19 2019426__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to firefighters; creating s. 112.1816,
3 F.S.; providing definitions; granting certain benefits
4 to a firefighter upon receiving a diagnosis of cancer
5 if certain conditions are met; requiring an employer
6 to make certain disability payments to a firefighter
7 in the event of a total and permanent disability;
8 providing for death benefits to a firefighter’s
9 beneficiary if a firefighter dies as a result of
10 cancer or cancer treatments; specifying that any costs
11 associated with benefits granted by the act must be
12 borne by the employer; requiring the Division of State
13 Fire Marshal to adopt certain rules; providing a
14 declaration of important state interest; providing an
15 effective date.
16
17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19 Section 1. Section 112.1816, Florida Statutes, is created
20 to read:
21 112.1816 Firefighters; cancer diagnosis.—
22 (1) As used in this section, the term:
23 (a) “Cancer” includes:
24 1. Bladder cancer.
25 2. Brain cancer.
26 3. Breast cancer.
27 4. Cervical cancer.
28 5. Colon cancer.
29 6. Esophageal cancer.
30 7. Invasive skin cancer.
31 8. Kidney cancer.
32 9. Large intestinal cancer.
33 10. Lung cancer.
34 11. Malignant melanoma.
35 12. Mesothelioma.
36 13. Multiple myeloma.
37 14. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
38 15. Oral cavity and pharynx cancer.
39 16. Ovarian cancer.
40 17. Prostate cancer.
41 18. Rectal cancer.
42 19. Stomach cancer.
43 20. Testicular cancer.
44 21. Thyroid cancer.
45 (b) “Employer” has the same meaning as in s. 112.191.
46 (c) “Firefighter” means an individual employed as a full
47 time firefighter within the fire department or public safety
48 department of an employer whose primary responsibilities are the
49 prevention and extinguishing of fires; the protection of life
50 and property; and the enforcement of municipal, county, and
51 state fire prevention codes and laws pertaining to the
52 prevention and control of fires.
53 (2) Upon a diagnosis of cancer, a firefighter is entitled
54 to the following benefits, as an alternative to pursuing
55 workers’ compensation benefits under chapter 440, if the
56 firefighter has been employed by his or her employer for at
57 least 5 continuous years, has not used tobacco products for at
58 least the preceding 5 years, and has not been employed in any
59 other position in the preceding 5 years which is proven to
60 create a higher risk for any cancer:
61 (a) Cancer treatment, at no cost to the firefighter,
62 covered within an employer-sponsored health plan or through a
63 group health insurance trust fund. The health plan, trust fund,
64 or insurance policy, or a rider added to such policy, may not
65 require the firefighter to contribute toward any deductible,
66 copayment, or coinsurance amount for the treatment of cancer. In
67 complying with this paragraph, the employer may timely reimburse
68 the firefighter for any out-of-pocket deductible, copayment, or
69 coinsurance costs incurred.
70 (b) A one-time cash payout of $25,000, upon the
71 firefighter’s initial diagnosis of cancer.
72
73 The benefits specified in paragraphs (a) and (b) must be made
74 available by a former employer of a firefighter for 10 years
75 following the date that the firefighter terminates employment,
76 so long as the firefighter otherwise met the criteria specified
77 in this subsection when he or she terminated employment and was
78 not subsequently employed as a firefighter following that date.
79 For purposes of determining leave time and employee retention
80 policies, the employer must consider a firefighter’s cancer
81 diagnosis as an injury or illness incurred in the line of duty.
82 (3)(a) If the firefighter participates in an employer
83 sponsored retirement plan, the retirement plan must consider the
84 firefighter totally and permanently disabled if he or she is
85 prevented from rendering useful and effective service as a
86 firefighter and is likely to remain disabled continuously and
87 permanently due to the diagnosis of cancer or circumstances that
88 arise out of the treatment of cancer.
89 (b) If the firefighter does not participate in an employer
90 sponsored retirement plan, the employer must provide a
91 disability retirement plan that provides the firefighter with at
92 least 42 percent of his or her annual salary, at no cost to the
93 firefighter, until the firefighter’s death, as coverage for
94 total and permanent disabilities attributable to the diagnosis
95 of cancer which arise out of the treatment of cancer.
96 (4)(a) If the firefighter participated in an employer
97 sponsored retirement plan, the retirement plan must consider the
98 firefighter to have died in the line of duty if he or she dies
99 as a result of cancer or circumstances that arise out of the
100 treatment of cancer.
101 (b) If the firefighter did not participate in an employer
102 sponsored retirement plan, the employer must provide a death
103 benefit to the firefighter’s beneficiary, at no cost to the
104 firefighter or his or her beneficiary, totaling at least 42
105 percent of the firefighter’s most recent annual salary for at
106 least 10 years following the firefighter’s death as a result of
107 cancer or circumstances that arise out of the treatment of
108 cancer.
109 (c) Firefighters who die as a result of cancer or
110 circumstances that arise out of the treatment of cancer are
111 considered to have died in the manner as described in s.
112 112.191(2)(a), and all of the benefits arising out of such death
113 are available to the deceased firefighter’s beneficiary.
114 (5) The costs of purchasing an insurance policy that
115 provides the cancer benefits contained in this section, or the
116 costs of providing such benefits through a self-funded system,
117 must be borne solely by the employer that employs firefighters
118 and may not be funded by individual firefighters, by any group
119 health insurance trust fund funded partially or wholly by
120 firefighters, or by any self-insured trust fund that provides
121 health insurance coverage that is funded partially or wholly by
122 firefighters.
123 (6) The Division of State Fire Marshal within the
124 Department of Financial Services shall adopt rules to establish
125 employer cancer prevention best practices as it relates to
126 personal protective equipment, decontamination, fire suppression
127 apparatus, and fire stations.
128 Section 2. The Legislature determines and declares that
129 this act fulfills an important state interest.
130 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.