Governor signs firefighter cancer comp bills

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Tuesday signed into law bills that add several more cancers to the list of those covered under workers compensation for firefighters and allow more firefighters to claim presumption, according to a statement.

Signed into law, H.B. 595 adds bladder and kidney, or renal cell cancers, to the types of cancers considered as occupational diseases for firefighters under the state’s workers compensation law.

The other set of identical bills, H.B. 604 and S.B. 646, expand workers compensation coverage to firefighters by closing a loophole regarding time served, making it possible for firefighters with 10 years of “cumulative time” served as eligible, according to the bills.