A bill designed to give additional benefits to firefighters diagnosed with cancer was passed by South Carolina Senate this week.
The Firefighter Cancer Health Care Benefit Plan now will go to the state's House of Representatives, and if passed, it will go before the governor to be signed, WSPA-TV reports. South Carolina's House is back in session in September.
Under the proposed bill, career and volunteer firefighters would receive a one-time $20,000 payment if they’re diagnosed with cancer and as much as $12,000 annually for medical expenses. Families of firefighters who die of cancer also would receive $75,000 under the plan.
“We’ve been trying for several years to get a bill passed that would benefit firefighters throughout the state," Gaffney Fire Chief Jamie Caggiano told WSPA.
South Carolina is one of two states that does not have presumption laws or some type of cancer protection bills for firefighters. Delaware is the other.
