Firefighter cancer presumption in Arkansas
For cancer, Arkansas gives no workers' comp presumption. If a covered cancer kills a firefighter, it pays a benefit for that line-of-duty death.
That law is Ark. Code Ann. § 21-5-705. Disability retirement and line-of-duty death benefits both rely on it.
Workers' comp (workers' compensation) is the insurance that pays medical bills and part of your lost pay when work makes you sick. Line-of-duty benefits are paid when an illness or injury comes from your work as a firefighter.
Conditions under Arkansas's law
- The retirement rules cover volunteer firefighters.
- Your cancer diagnosis came while you served in the line of duty.
- For the death benefit, you must have had no cancer diagnosis before your service as a firefighter began.
- The death benefit applies only if you're under age 68.
- The death benefit applies if your line-of-duty death came after January 1, 2012.
Your employer may still argue the cancer came from another cause, even though it's presumed job-related.
Questions about your diagnosis, your service record or your deadline go to the claims line: +1 833 853 0496
Cancers Arkansas's law covers
If you were exposed on duty to a substance known to cause cancer, other cancers count when research shows firefighters get them more often.
| Cancer | Covered in Arkansas? |
|---|---|
| Bladder cancer | Yes |
| Brain cancer | Yes |
| Breast cancer | Yes |
| Colon or rectal cancer | Yes |
| Esophagus cancer | Yes |
| Kidney cancer | Yes |
| Leukemia | Yes |
| Liver cancer | Yes |
| Mesothelioma | Yes |
| Multiple myeloma | Yes |
| Non-Hodgkin lymphoma | Yes |
| Prostate cancer | Yes |
| Skin cancer, melanoma included | Yes |
| Stomach cancer | Yes |
| Testicular cancer | Yes |
| Thyroid cancer | Yes |
| Cancer of the ovaries, cervix or uterusCervical cancer is the only one named. Ovarian and uterine cancer may count if tied to your work | Partly |
| Lung cancerOnly through the research/carcinogen-exposure clause | If linked to your work |
| Pancreatic cancer | If linked to your work |
| Throat or mouth cancer | If linked to your work |
In Arkansas, how do you file a claim for firefighter cancer?
- For disability retirement and line-of-duty death benefits, ask your department, or its pension or benefit board, how to apply. Name the law as well (Ark. Code Ann. § 21-5-705). That board is the office that decides retirement and disability pay for your department.
- You can also file a workers' comp claim, which is a second claim with the Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission. Arkansas's cancer law does not help with that one, so your doctor has to say in writing that your work caused the cancer.
- Get your papers together: the diagnosis, your hire and service dates, results of any physical exam, plus your fire and exposure records.
- Try to start soon, because time limits apply. Ask your department or the board how long you have to apply. A workers' comp claim has its own deadlines.