Signed by Governor Steve Bullock

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to concur with house amendments and pass a bill that establishes presumptive health care coverage for firefighters.

Highlights:

• Defines “firefighter” as an individual whose primary duties involve extinguishing or investigating fires, with at least 1 year of firefighting operations in Montana beginning on or after July 1, 2019 (Sec. 1).

• Defines “presumptive occupational disease” as harm or damage from one or more of the diseases listed under subsection 2 that is established by objective medical findings and that is contracted in the course and scope of employment as a firefighter from either a single day or work shift or for more than a single day or work shift but that is not specific to an accident (Sec. 1).

• Specifies that nothing in this act shall limit an insurer’s ability to assert that the occupational disease was not caused by the firefighter’s employment history as a firefighter (Sec. 1).

• Specifies that the beneficiaries of a firefighter who dies prior to filing a claim, are eligible for death benefits in the same manner as for a death from an injury (Sec. 1).

• Requires a firefighter file a timely claim for a presumptive occupational disease as soon as the firefighter knows or should have known that their condition resulted from a presumptive occupational disease (Sec. 2).

• Specifies that objective medical findings are sufficient for determining a presumptive occupational disease but can be overcome by a preponderance of the evidence (Sec. 5).

Full Bill Text