Panel clears technical fix to clarify "throat cancer" definition in occupational cancer presumption for firefighters

Delegate Boling (presenting staff) said HB 1933 would clarify the statutory definition of "throat cancer" in the occupational-cancer presumption that applies to firefighters and certain other covered workers.

Jennifer Pike of the Virginia Professional Firefighters said some claims have been denied because medical certificates used terms such as "esophageal cancer" or other throat-related diagnoses that insurers treated as outside the existing presumption language. "We just ask her to define this, to clear that up for us and give our members an opportunity to have their claims," Pike said.

William Bogaer, a Henrico County firefighter, described a local case in which a retired lieutenant's Line of Duty Act application was denied because the death certificate listed "esophageal cancer." "For most of us, esophageal cancer is part of the throat," Bogaer said, asking for a statutory clarification so families are not forced to litigate denials while coping with illness.

Representatives of insurers and risk pools supported the cleanup language as a way to speed determinations. When asked whether the bill would apply retroactively to already-denied claims, a representative of the Virginia Self Insurers Association said, "I don't believe so." The subcommittee voted 7–0 to report the bill.