It is fair to say that most Pittsburgh area residents take comfort in the knowledge that if a fire breaks out, there are fire departments ready, willing and able to come to their aid. In addition to saving structures, in more extreme situations, they save lives as well. For the dangers surrounding those activities, it is probably expected that fire fighters receive a certain level of compensation. An adequate amount of funds for any injuries they may sustain in the course of performing that job is likely expected as well.

Fighting fires and handling other related tasks is undeniably a dangerous career that many either have no interest in doing or physically could not do. Each day they place themselves in a position where they could suffer a physical injury in the course of their employment. In addition to suffering burns, they could also sustain long term damage through the inhalation of air full of smoke and other chemical fumes. This could ultimately lead to serious diseases such as cancer.

As is the case with most employers throughout the state of Pennsylvania, the municipalities that employ the firefighters have to carry workers' compensation insurance to help cover workers who find that they are facing a work related illness or injury. To specifically address situations in which a firefighter becomes ill with cancer that is related to the job, a law called the Firefighter cancer Presumption Act was passed in 2011. Under the law, firefighters must establish that their cancer was in fact a result of their occupation. The burden is actually on the municipality to disprove that work is the cause of the illness.

While a total of 90 claims have been received since the bill became law, none of those claims have completely been processed. Despite this the insurers that were previously covering these claims have been dropping their coverage. This leaves municipalities with no choice but to opt into more expensive plans such as the State Workers' Insurance Fund.

The expenses associated with the more expensive insurance plans were unanticipated and municipalities fear they will encounter issues paying for it. As a result the state legislature is again reviewing the situation. We will provide updates on the matter as they become available.

Source: Claims Journal, "Firefighters' Workers' Comp Insurance is Taxing Pennsylvania Municipalities," Karen Shuey, April 16, 2013