Firefighter Cancer Benefits & Workers' Compensation

     Current law in the 'Workers' Compensation Act of Colorado' provides that certain cancers contracted by firefighters are considered occupational diseases presumed to have been a result of the firefighters' employment. A firefighter's employer or an insurer may rebut this presumption by showing by a preponderance of the medical evidence that the cancer did not occur on the job.

      Section 2 of the bill updates the law by:

• Expanding the types of cancer that are considered occupational diseases;
• Affording certain neurological conditions the presumption; and
• Strengthening the presumption to require an employer to show clear and convincing evidence that the cancer did not occur on the job.
  
  (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)