Hawaii lawmakers will consider expanding workers compensation medical benefits for firefighters to include coverage for breast cancer and cancer of the female reproductive organs.
H.B. 1889, which was filed on Thursday, provides details on an April 2023 National Library for Medicine study that highlighted the occurrence of cancer in female firefighters, finding “that female firefighters may develop a wide variety of cancers and may develop them at an earlier age than most other women.”
“These findings illustrate the need to provide broad and presumptive medical coverage for female firefighters who have become ill,” the bill states.