JENKINTOWN PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEYS

On July 7, 2011, a new law called the Firefighter Cancer Prevention Act took effect in Pennsylvania, allowing firefighters to collect benefits, including lost wages, rehabilitation costs and death benefits if they develop cancer after being exposed to carcinogens at fire scenes. Unfortunately, this protection for firefighters also means that Ligonier Valley municipalities are expecting a big increase in the cost of workers’ compensation insurance.

The new law says that cancer is an occupational disease for firefighters and that any firefighter who serves at least four years has as long as 11.5 years after leaving service to file a claim. That is twice as long as the limits allowed for a typical workers’ compensation claim.

Since private companies won’t carry the firefighters’ coverage any longer, local officials think they’ll have no choice but to switch over to the state of Pennsylvania’s insurance program. The State Workers’ Insurance Fund’s premiums are much higher than private insurers.

Ligonier Borough was notified in August that its workers’ compensation insurance company was going to drop the firefighters, so it made the switch to the State Workers’ Insurance on October 1. Making that change increased rates for Ligonier Borough Volunteer Hose Co. No. 1 from about $5,000 to $8,000.

Republican representative Frank Farry was the bill’s sponsor and he thinks the private insurance companies that dropped coverage for firefighters are “disingenuous.” However, the executive director of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, David Sanko, said this law isn’t very different from ones enacted in other states. He thinks the law merely levels the playing field for Pennsylvania’s firefighters.