Firefighter cancer presumption in North Carolina
For cancer, North Carolina gives no workers' comp presumption. It provides a line-of-duty death benefit for any firefighter who dies of a covered cancer.
The law is N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-166.2(6)e. It covers line-of-duty death benefits.
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 North Carolina's law
- Death must result directly from the cancer.
- The cancer has to be a type that appears on the law's list.
- Your firefighting work must be tied to the cancer.
- Death from the cancer must happen on or after May 13, 1975.
Call about your North Carolina claim
Questions about your diagnosis, your service record or your deadline go to the claims line: +1 833 853 0496
Cancers that North Carolina covers
| Cancer | Covered in North Carolina? |
|---|---|
| Colon or rectal cancer | Yes |
| Esophagus cancer | Yes |
| Mesothelioma | Yes |
| Testicular cancer | Yes |
| Bladder cancer | Not named |
| Brain cancer | Not named |
| Breast cancer | Not named |
| Kidney cancer | Not named |
| Leukemia | Not named |
| Liver cancer | Not named |
| Lung cancer | Not named |
| Multiple myeloma | Not named |
| Non-Hodgkin lymphoma | Not named |
| Ovarian, cervical or uterine cancer | Not named |
| Pancreatic cancer | Not named |
| Prostate 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 part of a workers' comp claim. A doctor must connect it to your work.
In North Carolina, how do you go about filing a firefighter cancer claim?
- Find out from your department, or from the board that runs its pension or benefits, how to apply for a line-of-duty death benefit. Give the law's name (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-166.2(6)e). 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 North Carolina Industrial Commission. North Carolina'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 the diagnosis, the dates you were hired and served, any results from physical exams, 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