Bill Text: NJ S2037 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Mandates access to periodic cancer screening examinations for volunteer firefighters.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee [S2037 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-S2037-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator VIN GOPAL
District 11 (Monmouth)
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators Schepisi and A.M.Bucco
SYNOPSIS
Mandates access to periodic cancer screening examinations for volunteer firefighters.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act mandating access to periodic cancer screening examinations for volunteer firefighters, and supplementing Title 40A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A volunteer firefighter serving in this State shall be allowed to be reimbursed for a cancer screening examination conducted by a physician, which would not otherwise be covered by the volunteer firefighter's health insurance, not less than five years after the start of service as volunteer firefighter and every three years thereafter during the course of the firefighter's volunteer service. The examination shall include screening for, at a minimum and when applicable, the following cancers:
(1) colon;
(2) lung;
(3) bladder;
(4) oral;
(5) thyroid;
(6) skin;
(7) blood;
(8) breast;
(9) cervical;
(10) testicular; and
(11) prostate.
b. Subsection a. of this section shall apply to a volunteer firefighter as occupational coverage. For the purpose of this subsection, serving as a volunteer firefighter shall be a pre-existing condition.
c. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, beginning January 1, 2023 and for each year thereafter, a volunteer firefighter shall be eligible for reimbursement from the State for the cost of any examination provided pursuant to this section; provided, however, at no time shall the cost being reimbursed to the volunteer firefighter for the full examination required under subsection a. of this section exceed $1,250 per three-year period, which shall be accordingly adjusted to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for Medical Care.
No copayment, deductible, coinsurance, or out-of-pocket expense shall be required for such examinations.
A volunteer firefighter shall provide adequate records, consistent with guidance developed by the Director of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs, to facilitate the reimbursement authorized pursuant to this subsection.
For the purpose of this subsection, serving as a volunteer firefighter shall be a pre-existing condition. There shall be an appropriation from the State General Fund in each annual appropriations act of such funds as necessary for the purposes of this section. The Director of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs shall annually submit a request for an appropriation in an amount necessary to provide the reimbursements required pursuant to this section.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill mandates access to periodic cancer screening examinations for volunteer firefighters. The bill specifies that there should be no out-of-pocket cost to the volunteer firefighter. The bill also specifies that the State is to reimburse a volunteer firefighter for the full examination up to $1,250 per three-year period, which is to be annually adjusted according to inflation. The bill establishes an occupational existing condition that makes being a volunteer firefighter a condition for reimbursement of costs associated with cancer screening examinations.
