Firefighter cancer presumption in Maine
Once you've served 5 years, Maine presumes 11 cancers are job-related.
The law here: Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 39-A, § 328-B. It applies to workers' comp claims.
Presumed means the law assumes your job caused the cancer, so your employer has to show it came from something else. Workers' comp (workers' compensation) is the insurance that pays medical bills and part of your lost pay when work makes you sick.
Conditions under Maine's law
- At least 5 years of service.
- Volunteer fire association members count as covered.
- A diagnosis has to come within 10 years of your last active firefighting, or before age 70, whichever is first.
- You must have regularly answered calls for firefighting or emergencies.
- You need a past medical test for this cancer that came back negative, unless you were a firefighter already on the law's effective date.
- You must sign forms stating your family has no history of this cancer. They must also state you had no major cancer-causing exposures beyond firefighting.
Firefighting is presumed to have caused your cancer, though your employer can claim something else did.
Call about your Maine claim
Questions about your diagnosis, your service record or your deadline go to the claims line: +1 833 853 0496
Cancers that Maine covers
| Cancer | Covered in Maine? |
|---|---|
| Bladder cancer | Yes |
| Brain cancer | Yes |
| Breast cancer | Yes |
| Kidney cancer | Yes |
| Leukemia | Yes |
| Multiple myeloma | Yes |
| Non-Hodgkin lymphoma | Yes |
| Ovarian, cervical or uterine cancer | Yes |
| Prostate cancer | Yes |
| Testicular cancer | Yes |
| Cancer of the colon or rectumThe law names colon cancer and says nothing about rectal cancer | Partly |
| Esophagus cancer | Not named |
| Liver cancer | Not named |
| Lung cancer | Not named |
| Mesothelioma | Not named |
| Pancreatic cancer | Not named |
| Skin cancer, melanoma included | Not named |
| Stomach cancer | Not named |
| Throat or mouth cancer | Not named |
| Thyroid cancer | Not named |
A cancer listed as "Not named" can still be claimed through workers' comp, but a doctor must tie it to your job.
In Maine, how do you file a workers' comp cancer claim as a firefighter?
- Notify your department in writing: you have cancer, and you think the job caused it. Save a copy for yourself.
- Send the claim to the Maine Workers' Compensation Board or to your employer's insurer, naming the law that applies (Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 39-A, § 328-B) on your form.
- Collect your diagnosis, the dates you were hired and served, any physical exam results, plus your fire and exposure records.
- Start soon. Workers' comp claims have time limits for telling your employer and for filing, and some are short.