Firefighter cancer presumption in Iowa
Under Iowa's rule, any cancer a firefighter gets is presumed to come from the job.
The law here: Iowa Code § 411.6. The law applies to disability retirement.
Presumed means the law assumes your job caused the cancer, so your employer has to show it came from something else. Iowa's cancer law is separate from workers' comp, which is the insurance that pays medical bills and lost pay when work makes you sick.
Conditions listed in Iowa's law
- This rule does not cover volunteer firefighters.
- You can't keep doing your firefighting duties at all, and the problem is permanent.
- You have a medical board certificate saying your disability will likely be permanent and you should be retired.
- You've passed the regular civil service test for firefighters, both mental and physical.
- The cancer must not come from a medical condition known at your start date, if that date falls on or after July 1, 1992.
Call about your Iowa claim
Questions about your diagnosis, your service record or your deadline go to the claims line: +1 833 853 0496
Cancers that Iowa covers
Under Iowa's law, all cancers are included.
Examples include cancers like these:
- Bladder cancer
- Brain cancer
- Breast cancer
- Colon or rectal cancer
- Esophagus cancer
- Kidney cancer
- Leukemia
- Liver cancer
- Lung cancer
- Mesothelioma
- Multiple myeloma
- Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
- Ovarian, cervical or uterine cancer
- Pancreatic cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Skin cancer, melanoma included
- Stomach cancer
- Testicular cancer
- Throat or mouth cancer
- Thyroid cancer
In Iowa, how do you file a claim for firefighter cancer?
- To apply for disability retirement, ask your department or its pension or benefit board, and cite the law (Iowa Code § 411.6). 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 Iowa Division of Workers' Compensation (Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing). Iowa's cancer law does not help with that one, so your doctor has to say in writing that your work caused the cancer.
- Collect your diagnosis, the dates you were hired and served, any physical exam results, and your records of fires and exposures.
- 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.