Certain work-related cancer deaths would count toward officer survivor benefits

Covered cancer deaths would be presumed to be deaths in the line of duty. Officers must have started serving at least five years before diagnosis and been diagnosed no more than 15 years after their last active service date. Only the 20 listed cancers qualify. The cancer must result from exposure during duty to an agent classified as cancer-causing or probably cancer-causing and reasonably linked to that cancer. The cancer must directly cause death. The presumption would not apply if medical evidence shows the exposure was not a substantial contributing factor. The death rule would start the day after enactment, retroactive to February 1, 2020. Claims could cover deaths on or after January 1, 2020. For deaths after January 1, 2020, but before enactment, eligible people would have three years from enactment to file.

Deaths from complications of listed infections caused by exposure during duty would count as deaths in the line of duty. The rule would cover public safety officers exposed during duty to ten listed infections, including COVID-19, influenza, and tuberculosis. Medical records must identify the infection as a cause of death or a contributing factor. This rule would take effect the day after enactment and apply retroactively from February 1, 2020.

Covered public safety officers would include qualifying part-time fire workers, paid on-call firefighters, and certain former officers. The former-officer category would cover the listed public safety jobs. It would exclude people covered solely because they helped an officer at the officer’s request. Part-time workers must perform listed fire or emergency duties for the state or a local government fire department. Paid on-call firefighters must be enrolled department members engaged in firefighting hazards. Former officers must have left service because of a duty disability that meets the definition in the referenced law. The covered-worker definition would take effect the day after enactment and apply retroactively from February 1, 2020.

Rules would define the physical activity used to decide whether certain sudden deaths count as deaths in the line of duty. The tests would apply to duty-death rules for heart attacks, strokes, and ruptured blood vessels. An agency’s description or how often work occurs would not alone settle whether it is routine. Strenuous activity must require unusually high physical effort. Stressful activity must involve meaningful physical effort and unusually high fear or alarm linked to serious danger, apparent danger, or realistic training. Both definitions exclude clerical, administrative, nonmanual, and routine activity. The activity definitions and routine-work rule would take effect the day after enactment and apply retroactively from February 1, 2020.

The official overseeing education awards would set each eligible applicant’s award using available money when funding is insufficient. The rule would apply to eligible applicants for education awards under the public safety officer survivor-benefit provisions. This rule would apply when the money set aside for the awards is insufficient.