Nevada law covers more lung diseases for certain public safety workers

The law treats certain lung diseases as work-related without requiring proof that exposure to smoke, heat, fumes, tear gas, or other harmful gases caused them. This applies to full-time, salaried police officers, firefighters, and arson investigators who worked continuously for at least two years before becoming disabled. The disease must be diagnosed and cause disability or death during employment or within specified periods after leaving employment. Frequent tobacco use before filing a claim, a serious departure from a doctor’s care plan, or failure to correct an able-to-correct condition may block the presumption. Purchased retirement-service credit does not count toward the required service years. The presumption applies during employment and, after separation, for a period matching years worked if service was under 20 years, or at any time in life after 20 or more years of service.

The law applies its lung-disease provisions to claims filed on or before the law’s effective date. This covers claims by police officers, firefighters, and arson investigators under the lung-disease provisions in section 1. The claim remains subject to the eligibility rules, exclusions, and other limits in section 1. This applies retroactively to claims filed on or before the effective date; the act becomes effective when passed and approved.