Nebraska Pols Pull Bill on Firefighter Cancer

Nebraska state senators late Thursday abandoned a proposal that would have required workers’ compensation coverage for firefighters who develop cancer, unless their employer could prove it was not caused by their job.
Bill sponsor Sen. Dave Wordekemper, himself a firefighter, said a lack of such coverage hurts people who are exposed to carcinogenic chemicals.
The proposal would have ensured that firefighters would receive 66% of their salary while they were dealing with their cancer.
The benefit would be available to those who worked full-time for at least five years as a firefighter, a fire investigator or a firefighter instructor or trainer.
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The U.S. Justice Department said that an Orlando federal grand jury last week indicted four Honduran nationals for operating an illegal, off-the-books cash payroll system that included defrauding workers’ compensation insurance companies.
As part of the scheme run from 2015 to 2022, the defendants allegedly defrauded workers’ compensation insurance companies by leasing their certificates of insurance to contractors, and by providing false and fraudulent information to the insurers about, among other things, the number of workers covered by the insurance and the amount workers were paid.
Through the scheme, the conspirators facilitated the employment of undocumented aliens working illegally in the United States.
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The Iowa Workers’ Compensation Division is now operating under the umbrella of the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL) on the state government organizational chart.
DIAL’s Workers’ Compensation Division (WCD) now administers the workers’ compensation system, an outcome of a statewide government reorganization which became effective July 1, 2023.
Earlier this month, the division moved into the DIAL building physically, as well.
The Division’s address is often printed on documents such as denial letters, notices and subpoenas.
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