Firefighter cancer presumption in Nebraska
For 14 cancers, Nebraska assumes the cause is your work, and the same goes for others connected to an exposure.
You'll find the rule at Neb. Rev. Stat. § 35-1001. Death and disability pensions for line-of-duty cases rely on it.
Presumed means the law assumes your job caused the cancer, so your employer has to show it came from something else. Nebraska'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 under Nebraska's law
- Only members of paid fire departments are covered by this rule, so volunteers don't qualify.
- Death or disability resulted from the cancer.
- You passed a physical exam, either when you joined or afterward, and that exam found no cancer.
- On duty, you came into contact with a known cancer-causing substance reported to cause your type of cancer.
- Your death or disability happened while serving, or within three months after you left service.
The cancer is presumed to come from your job, though your employer can claim another cause.
Questions about your diagnosis, your service record or your deadline go to the claims line: +1 833 853 0496
Cancers Nebraska covers
A cancer not listed here still qualifies if something you were exposed to on the job is reported to cause that type.
| Cancer | Covered in Nebraska? |
|---|---|
| Bladder cancer | Yes |
| Brain cancer | Yes |
| Colon or rectal cancer | Yes |
| Esophagus cancer | Yes |
| Kidney cancer | Yes |
| Leukemia | Yes |
| Liver cancer | Yes |
| Multiple myeloma | Yes |
| Non-Hodgkin lymphoma | Yes |
| Pancreatic cancer | Yes |
| Prostate cancer | Yes |
| Skin cancer, melanoma included | Yes |
| Stomach cancer | Yes |
| Cancer of the throat or mouthMouth cancer is covered; for throat and voice box cancers the law is less clear | Partly |
| Breast cancer | If linked to your work |
| Lung cancer | If linked to your work |
| Mesothelioma | If linked to your work |
| Ovarian, cervical or uterine cancer | If linked to your work |
| Testicular cancer | If linked to your work |
| Thyroid cancer | If linked to your work |
In Nebraska, how do you make a firefighter cancer claim?
- Reach out to your department, or to the pension or benefit board they work with. Request instructions for applying for a line‑of‑duty death or disability pension, and mention the law (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 35-1001). 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 Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court. Nebraska's cancer law does not help with that one, so your doctor has to say in writing that your work caused the cancer.
- Pull together your diagnosis, the dates you were hired and served, results of any physical exam, 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.
Look up another cancer · See the states that name each cancer