Firefighter cancer presumption in Ohio
After 6 years of service, Ohio presumes a cancer tied to firefighter exposures came from the job.
The law here is Ohio Rev. Code § 4123.68. Workers' comp is what it's for.
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 Ohio's law
- Your service lasted 6 years or more.
- The law lists volunteer firefighters as covered, but its wording on this point isn't fully clear.
- At some point you were exposed to a substance that the International Agency for Research on Cancer calls a Group 1 or 2A carcinogen.
- Your last assignment to hazardous duty as a firefighter was no more than 20 years ago.
- You must be completely disabled by the cancer, either temporarily or permanently, or it must cause death.
Your employer can argue the cancer came from something else, such as tobacco use, cancer you had before joining, or age 70 or older.
Questions about your diagnosis, your service record or your deadline go to the claims line: +1 833 853 0496
Cancers Ohio's law covers
Any cancer can count when the substance you were exposed to is rated Group 1 or 2A by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Among those cancers are:
- Cancer of the bladder
- Cancer of the brain
- Cancer of the breast
- Cancer of the colon or rectum
- Cancer of the esophagus
- Cancer of the kidney
- Leukemia
- Cancer of the liver
- Cancer of the lung
- Mesothelioma
- The disease called multiple myeloma
- Lymphoma that is not Hodgkin’s
- Cancer of the ovary, cervix or uterus
- Cancer of the pancreas
- Cancer of the prostate
- Skin cancer, including melanoma
- Cancer of the stomach
- Cancer of the testicle
- Cancer of the throat or mouth
- Cancer of the thyroid
In Ohio, what's the process for filing a firefighter cancer claim under workers' comp?
- Write to your department that you have cancer and that you believe the job is what caused it. Save a copy for yourself.
- Your filing goes to the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation or to your employer's insurer. Name the law there (Ohio Rev. Code § 4123.68) as you fill out the form.
- Collect your diagnosis, your fire and exposure records, results from any physical exams, and the dates you were hired and served.
- Start soon. Workers' comp claims have time limits for telling your employer and for filing, and some are short.