Bill Would Help Fire Fighters Pay for Cancer Treatments

A state lawmaker is backing legislation to put money into a fund designed to help fire fighters pay for cancer treatments.

Senator Curtis Hertel, D-East Lansing, says fire fighters are two to three times more likely to develop cancer because they’re job exposes them to cancer-causing agents.

He says the governor signed a law last year to create the First Responder Presumed Coverage Fund, but the legislature is yet to put any money into it.

So Hertel has introduced a bill to direct $3 million into the fund to ensure Michigan’s first responders aren’t denied worker’s compensation claims for cancer treatments.

He says that eight Michigan fire fighters were diagnosed with cancer in the past year, one recently died.