Editor's Note: This story was updated to include City Council approval Dec. 19 of four bills related to the city's participation in the Missouri Fire Fighters Critical Illness Trust and Pool.
Eligible Springfield firefighters diagnosed with cancer will be able to receive nontaxable benefits under a new statewide program in 2024.
At a special meeting Dec. 19, Springfield City Council unanimously approved a slate of bills related to the city’s participation in the Missouri Fire Fighters Critical Illness Trust and Pool.
An amendment to state law in 2021 made way for the creation of the program, which was established in 2022. The pool provides coverage and monetary benefits to eligible firefighters diagnosed with any of 17 nationally recognized cancers.
In addition to authorizing the city’s participation in the program, the City Council voted through an amendment to the city code and a pair of agreements with the local chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters and a bargaining representative for the city’s Crafts, Trades and Labor Employee Group.
In expressing support for the city's enrollment in the program, Councilmember Matthew Simpson commended the efforts of Springfield's local delegation of legislators — namely Republican Sen. Lincoln Hough, who sponsored the bill that made the program possible.
“I think that this is a really important step to help protect those who serve our community,” he said. “We know it’s an unfortunate fact that firefighters, because of the nature of their service, do face a higher risk of cancer and this is a program that makes sure that anyone who does get that from that position is protected and provided for.”
Benefits capped at $300,000
The special meeting was called in order to get the bills, which were first presented to council members on Dec. 11, voted on before the start of the new year, as the program runs on a calendar year. Future participation in the program beyond 2024 will be contingent on additional negotiations with the unions.
The program provides nontaxable coverage for union and non-union personnel across the Springfield Fire Department and Aircraft Rescue Firefighters at the Springfield-Branson National Airport. The benefit is meant to help pay high deductibles, co-payments and future anticipated costs associated with a cancer diagnosis.
In order to receive benefits, employees have to meet conditions stipulated by state law, the Missouri Fire Fighters Critical Illness Trust and Pool and the city, which require the individual to be a paid employee assigned to at least five years of “fire fighting hazardous duty” with the city, who was last assigned that duty within the last 15 years and is under 70 years of age.
The city’s enrollment in the program caps benefits at $300,000, the highest limit available in the pool. Benefits are determined by the type and stage of cancer, as well as the Missouri Fire Fighters Critical Illness Trust and Pool and its Board of Trustees.
The program provides benefits to firefighters diagnosed with the following cancers: Bladder, Brain, Breast, Colon, Esophagus, Kidney, Lung, Melanoma, Mesothelioma, Multiple Myeloma, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, Prostate, Rectal, Skin, Stomach, Testicular and Thyroid.
Advantages to the program
In addition to the list of covered cancers and design of the benefits, the program names other advantages to firefighters and fire departments. Unlike states that place the burden of proof on an employer to disprove a firefighters’ cancer diagnosis is job-related, the program doesn’t mandate “invasive investigations” into the cancer’s cause.
The program came to fruition after years of discussion in the state legislature over that causal relationship — which is more easily identified in the occupation of firefighting — and analysis of “less expensive and less litigious programs” in 14 other states.
The program allows public agencies to control rising costs, cap losses and keep rates affordable: $300,000 of coverage in 2024 for a full-time firefighter is $165. Coverage is provided through a streamlined claims process, in that it provides payments within 10 days of confirmation of a diagnosis.
Once the city’s proposed enrollment in the program is submitted, the Missouri Fire Fighters Critical Illness Trust and Pool will notify the city of its required contribution, which is estimated at $28,545 in 2024, according to assistant director of Human Resources Rochelle Yoap.
