Legislature(2007 - 2008)BELTZ 211
04/12/2007 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB115 | |
| HB34 | |
| SB117 | |
| Affordable Housing Issues | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| = | SB 117 | ||
| = | SB 124 | ||
| = | SB 115 | ||
| = | HB 34 | ||
SB 117-WORKERS' COMP: DISEASE PRESUMPTION
1:38:42 PM
CHAIR ELLIS announced SB 117 to be up for consideration.
SENATOR FRENCH, sponsor of SB 117, introduced Andy Moderow, his
staff, who was also available to comment on this bill. He then
read the sponsor statement for the record. It said SB 117 was
brought to them because each year citizens throughout Alaska
rely on professional and volunteer firefighters to come to their
assistance in times of emergency. They work on everyone's behalf
to save lives and property often at great personal risk. In
doing so, they are exposed to toxic chemicals like benzene and
carcinogenic substances such as solvents, dyes, asbestos and
high levels of carbon monoxide or other substances that can
affect the heart and lungs.
SB 117 would create a presumption in the Workers' Compensation
Program that a firefighter with at least seven years on the job
who has passed health screen exams earlier in their careers will
be provided with benefits if they contract certain forms of
pulmonary or heart disease or cancers - as it will be presumed
to be a result of their occupation. This presumption is
restricted to diseases known to occur with greater frequency
among firefighters and the date by which a claim has to be made
will also capped at 60 months from the firefighter's last date
of employment.
Forty-one states currently provide some form of presumptive
coverage for firefighters. Although arguments have been made
that this coverage will be prohibitively expensive, the fact is
that this has not been the case elsewhere. For instance, the
State of California has over 30,000 paid firefighters and more
than 30,000 volunteers, but the addition of cancer presumptive
benefits has had "no impact" on the actuarial assumptions for
its retirement system. Similarly, in Illinois, in the six years
following provision of presumption of cancer for firefighters,
claims were actually 8.3 percent lower than in the six years
prior to passage.
SENATOR FRENCH summarized that firefighters place their lives at
risk on behalf of us all and in return, they should be able to
use Workers' Comp benefits for illnesses they incur as a result
of the work they do.
1:41:14 PM
SENATOR BUNDE asked how early a screening exam would be in the
career of a firefighter.
SENATOR FRENCH replied that those particularities can be
described in regulation so they can be taken up by people with
more intimate knowledge in this area.
1:42:01 PM
SENATOR STEVENS asked what would happen after the 60-month cut-
off period for filing a claim.
SENATOR FRENCH replied the idea is after you have left your job
you should have workers' compensation coverage for a period of
time and the person paying for the policy should have some
knowledge of when he's off the hook.
1:43:10 PM
MARK DRYGAS, President, Alaska Professional Firefighters
Association, supported SB 117 stating that numerous studies have
shown increased risk of cancer and cardiovascular and infectious
diseases amongst fire fighters.
1:44:49 PM
He reaffirmed that many states now have some presumption of
disability. In the first six years Oklahoma had cancer
legislation, it paid 22 claims statewide or 6 percent of its 378
disability claims. This averages to four cancer claims per year
or .03 percent at an average cost to the pension system of
$10,400 per total cancer claim. He said Oklahoma has 3400 career
firefighters and 9000 volunteers.
1:45:34 PM
MR. DRYGAS said Nevada paid three cancer claims in the first
four years the legislation was enacted. None of the cases
included lung cancer which is covered under separate litigation.
Nevada has 1790 career firefighters and 2200 volunteers. This
averages less than one claim per year for a .02 percent rate of
cancer claims.
He said the numbers from Rhode Island show a rate of .02
percent, which seems to be the common rate. Florida has a rate
of .034 percent. California has the highest rate at .07 percent.
He estimated that Alaska would have a rate around one person
every three years. The only time this will come into play is
when a person has a life-threatening disease.
MR. DRYGAS said this coverage is very important to firefighters
because they take the risk for everyone. The problem has to be a
pretty bad before it comes into play and it's hard to scam it.
He pointed out that OSHA doesn't regulate what is in someone's
garage and all hazards aren't known at the time they are
responded to. Toxic accumulations of them are also a serious
issue.
SENATOR STEVENS asked if volunteer firefighters are covered
under the Workers' Compensation program and how their seven
years is figured out.
MR. DRYGAS answered that his understanding is that volunteer
firefighters are covered under state workers' compensation law,
but he couldn't really speak for them. Seven years on the job
would have to be defined later in regulation and most volunteers
don't serve that long.
1:50:22 PM
DOMINICK LEZANO, President, Fairbanks Firefighters Association,
said he is a firefighter paramedic and supported Mr. Drygas'
testimony. It is very important for firefighters, both
professional and volunteer, to know they have coverage as they
face unknowns every day. The basis of presumption saves the
family heartache and difficulty when a firefighter contracts a
cancer from what he does in his job.
1:53:27 PM
ROD HARRIS, firefighter with the City of Anchorage, supported SB
117 and said it had been adopted by 41 other states. He said
this coverage will not increase the number of claims, but it
will change their presumptive status. If a firefighter gets
sick, he will file a claim regardless of whether this
legislation passes or not. This defines the process and reduces
the liability to the workers' compensation system and will save
the state from having multi-million dollar litigation.
He said that every day firefighters respond to calls when they
will be exposed to both known and unknown hazards. He noted that
the fire chiefs also support this legislation, because most fire
departments recognize the risks.
1:56:18 PM
ERIC TULAK, firefighter with Anchorage Fire Department, said he
would first answer Senator Bunde's question about when the
medical exam would happen and how long it would be good for. At
this point, the bill just says it will be at some point during
the career that shows them to be disease-free. Specifics still
need to be addressed. He explained that Anchorage firefighters
are lucky enough to have annual physicals. Three of its older
individuals have had cancer and all three are in remission. They
were shown to be cancer-free upon their initial exam.
In answer to Senator Stevens' question about what happens after
five years, Mr. Tulak said when the bill was written a disease
was considered to no longer be presumptive after five years. The
five years is based upon other state and Canadian province law
and upon latency periods of diseases listed in the bill.
He explained that when the bill was introduced last session as
HB 31, it had some definitions for volunteer firefighters and
their training and time on the job is recorded.
1:58:13 PM
MR. TULAK said he would now go to his testimony and talk about
what is called the Healthy Worker Effect that compares different
groups and control groups in any epidemiological study. If they
are not well matched, the results aren't as meaningful. For that
reason groups are matched for age, sex and race, and lifestyle
factors like smoking and alcohol consumption. The Healthy Worker
Effect is accentuated with the use of firefighters who are
extremely healthy individuals for the most part often being
compared to policemen. The most relevant studies show that they
are getting these cancers and diseases at a higher incidence
than other groups. For example, firefighters get brain cancer at
an 88 percent higher rate than police officers; 111 percent more
frequently for bladder cancer; 227 percent more frequently for
non-Hodgins lymphoma; and 270 percent more frequently for
leukemia.
1:59:45 PM
He also wanted to address claims that this bill would increase
the number of claims filed, but he asked if that means there are
first-responders suffering from these diseases who already
aren't making these claims. He also thought it ironic that
people think there would be frivolous claims.
2:01:23 PM
JEFF BRIGGS, Alaska Professional Firefighters Association, said
he is also an Anchorage firefighter. He stated that thousands of
people around the state every year are touched by first
responders by merely dialing 911 and this is a small token of
appreciation for them. He said the bill has been written in a
fiscally responsible way and for example, the state of Rhode
Island paid six claims in the first eight years. It has 2200
career firefighters and 2800 volunteers. In Alaska, that would
equate to about one claim every four years.
2:04:08 PM
JEFF BUSH, Executive Director, Alaska Public Entity Insurance
(APEI), said APEI represents schools and cities in Alaska and
insures 18 municipalities; approximately 150 personnel would be
affected by this bill. He opposed the bill saying the workers'
compensation system is already designed to cover the diseases
that are listed. It now requires only a minimal amount of
evidence of a link between the occupation and the disease for
coverage to attach. There is no doubt this bill will cost the
state and municipalities money and that some firefighters will
develop these diseases without the exposure.
This bill will complicate appeals because it creates issues that
will need litigation. It requires medical screenings and the 200
municipalities with volunteers will have to pay for their
screenings. The cost is just not worth it.
2:07:29 PM
SENATOR BUNDE asked if municipalities pay for their volunteer
firefighters' workers' compensation.
MR. BUSH replied they do and if there is a claim they are
compensated at the average rate of the position they serve in.
2:07:54 PM
SENATOR STEVENS asked if certain cancers can be shown to have
some connection with on-the-job exposure.
SENATOR FRENCH replied no, but this bill sets up a presumption
that the disease was caused through work. If the insurer could
demonstrate a person smoked two packs a day and engaged in other
risky lifestyle behaviors that would more readily account for
the disease, the insurer would win and a firefighter would not
be covered.
SENATOR BUNDE asked if this measure would apply to retired
firefighters as well, giving them coverage under both workers'
compensation and retirement. He also wanted to hear from the
Division of Insurance on insurance rates. He also saw the need
to flesh out how many physicals one would actually have to take
and to investigate any presently unknown additional costs -
because everyone is saying firefighters have a higher rate of
disease.
2:11:25 PM
CHAIR ELLIS said those were all good points and he thanked
people for their testimony and the firefighters for their public
service. He said SB 117 would be held over.
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