Iowa Senate pumps brakes on bill expanding cancer coverage for firefighters

DES MOINES — A group of 35 Des Moines firefighters and their family members filled a legislative committee room last week at the Iowa Capitol amid blizzard conditions, hopeful that this will be the year lawmakers pass legislation to expand medical coverage for firefighters who develop cancer on the job.

Iowa House lawmakers last year unanimously passed a bill that would have covered all cancers under a firefighter’s disability benefits rather than the specific list that is currently covered, but did not advance in the Republican-controlled Iowa Senate.

Joe Van Haalen, president of Des Moines Professional Firefighters Local 4 and vice president of Iowa Professional Firefighters, said three Des Moines firefighters have died in the last 18 months from cancer. Two of the firefighters developed cancer not currently covered under a firefighter’s disability benefits.

“We also know that the cancers that those two individuals suffer from are directly related to firefighting, and so that's just a tough pill to swallow,” Van Haalen told The Gazette. “We're having to work really hard to help those families out, to provide work coverage while those guys were being treated, and you know, now we've lost them.”

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Kelli Stoaks, whose husband died from pancreatic cancer after serving on the Des Moines Fire Department for several years, spoke last week during a legislative hearing on the bill and asked lawmakers to take swift action, Des Moines TV station KCCI 8 News reported.

Her husband’s cancer was not among the 14 presumed cancers covered by the state of Iowa, meaning all of his doctor appointments, procedures, scans, chemotherapy, radiation, medication, medical supplies and hospital stays had to be covered by their insurance, KCCI reported.

"We had to pay what insurance did not. We were fortunate that we both had good insurance, but not everyone does,“ Stoaks told lawmakers, according to KCCI.

House Study Bill 266 would require public employers to provide health care benefits that include cancer screening examinations to full-time fire fighters, police officers and emergency medical services providers within the first three years of their employment and every three years after that.

The state would reimburse cities for the costs of providing examinations, up to $1,250 per eligible employee, and allocate $1 million in state funding to cover cancer screening costs for first responders.

It also expands the definition of “cancer” by striking references to 14 presumed cancers currently covered by the state of Iowa under a firefighter’s disability benefits to include more cancer diagnoses.

The bill likewise expands the availability of accidental disability and death benefits to members of the public safety peace officers’ retirement, accident and disability system and the municipal fire and police retirement system who have a cancer diagnosis. It also expands the definition of cancer for in-service disability retirement allowance for special service members under the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System.

The House bill unanimously passed out of committee last week, clearing a key legislative hurdle for bills to remain alive for consideration and passage this year as lawmakers gradually narrow their focus and workload for the remainder of the legislative session.

The Senate version of the bill passed out of subcommittee Feb. 26, but was pulled from the full committee’s agenda Wednesday.

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Senate Local Government Committee chair Scott Webster, R-Bettendorf, cited concerns about the financial impact on self-insured municipalities from expanding benefits for a specified list of individual cancers to instead cover all cancers, as it could significantly increase costs for taxpayers.

Webster stressed Senate lawmakers will continue to work with House Republicans to advance the legislation this year.

“The House still has a live round, so we know that can be worked on,” Webster said. “And I think that we need to continue to have the conversations. And whether or not we get it through (Senate) committee or not, when we have a live bill in the House, isn't going to be a huge deal because we can continue to work on it still.”

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Webster said lawmakers intend to explore options like an insurance pool to help spread the financial risk, rather than having the full cost fall directly on the self-insured municipalities. He said the goal is to find a way to support and protect first responders, while not placing an undue burden on taxpayers.

Webster noted the legislation has progressed further than it did this time last year, with House and Senate lawmakers starting the conversations and discussions around the bill earlier in the legislative session. Having a bill in both the House and Senate this year, rather than just one chamber, also provides more opportunities for the legislation to advance, he said.

“I don't think it's too complicated to get through this year,” Webster said. “I think it's just getting all the people at the table and having them all sit down and figure out ways to make sure that we're protecting both the taxpayers and first responders.”

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Van Haalen, the Des Moines firefighter union president, said it was disappointing to see the Senate pump the brakes — especially on a day when supporters trekked to the Capitol amid a winter storm that triggered multiple-vehicle pileups around the Des Moines metro, resulting in the closure of sections of Interstates 35 and 80, to underscore the importance of the legislation for firefighters and their families.

“We've worked extremely hard to try to understand what we needed to do and what the bill needed to include for passage, and just feels a little bit sometimes like the bar is being moved,” he told The Gazette. “… We felt like we were in a good spot. (We) had a lot of people come up here on a fairly severe weather day, on what something we thought was going to be a fairly easy pass and that didn't occur. We're not going anywhere. We'll regroup. We'll get it figured out.”

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com