Foley adopts Firefighter Cancer Policy

By Jessica Vaughn
Posted 12/30/19

FOLEY - During the Dec. council meeting, the City of Foley adopted a Firefighter Cancer Policy to cover all city firefighters, both employed and volunteer, with advanced coverage.

Fire Chief Joey …

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Foley adopts Firefighter Cancer Policy

Posted

FOLEY - During the Dec. council meeting, the City of Foley adopted a Firefighter Cancer Policy to cover all city firefighters, both employed and volunteer, with advanced coverage.

Fire Chief Joey Darby said the fire service in Alabama has been lobbying for years for legislation to pass to mandate a cancer benefit for firefighters, as work comp has refused to cover it as a work-related illness.

“Obviously firefighter cancer is more and more prevalent today than ever, and the main reason for that is some of the things we face today, with hydrocarbons and synthetics, that we haven’t seen in the past,” Darby said. “That has unfortunately led to a lot more prevalent cases of firefighter cancer.”

During the past session, Alabama legislature unanimously passed a firefighter cancer bill mandating coverage for all career or paid firefighters in the state of Alabama, giving individual departments until Jan. 1 to create a policy. Darby has already done all of the preliminary work and budgeted for the new policy. He requested the council also include all volunteer firefighters in the policy as well, which passed unanimously. He based his policy off one endorsed and mandated by the League of Municipalities, which was done through the Alabama First Responders Benefits Program.

“The new legislation specifically names 20 cancers that are covered,” Darby said. “Logic to me says that over time there will be more cancers found … Enhanced coverage will cover all forms of cancer. The interesting thing is that the enhanced coverage is only about $12 per person, per year over the basic coverage, so it’s very affordable, and we’re well within our budget to cover everybody.”

There are currently 18 volunteers in the Foley Fire Department. The new law states firefighters must have 12-months of prior service as of Jan. 1 to qualify for the new benefit. Once the 12-months of service is reached, the firefighter will come onto the policy with no extra charge.