Bills seeking to drastically expand presumptive occupational diseases for heart conditions in firefighters have been revived in 2026. Last year, AWC expressed concerns that the expansion will raise workers’ compensation costs and potentially capture conditions that were not necessarily work related.

Under current law, if a firefighter has heart problems that are experienced within 72 hours of exposure to smoke, fumes, or toxic substances, or heart problems experienced within 24 hours of strenuous physical exertion from firefighting, it is a presumptive occupational disease. A presumptive occupational disease allows a worker to file a workers’ compensation claim for a health condition without having to prove that the condition was work related.

HB 1571 and SB 6180 would change that by deleting the requirements of exposure to toxics and physical exertion from firefighting from the presumption. Under the bill, any heart problem in a firefighter would be presumed to be an occupational disease for workers’ compensation. If a city objected to a claim, they would have to rebut the presumption by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning they would have to prove that more likely than not the heart condition was not work related.

AWC’s concern continues. Presumptive occupational diseases should be reserved for situations where it is obvious that a condition was most likely work related and it would be a waste of time and resources to make an employee prove it was. However, heart conditions generally are common and can arise at any time from any number of factors that are not job related. If a presumption is to apply to heart conditions in firefighters, it should be for those cases that are clearly due to their job, namely when they are exposed to toxic environments or have been strenuously fighting fire. A lack of a presumption for other heart problems outside those obvious cases does not preclude a firefighter from filing a claim; they simply must prove that their condition likely arose from work, which is appropriate in circumstances where a disease could have many causes.

The Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention (SHARP) program within the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) published a report regarding heart disease risk for firefighters. In the outlined key findings, the report states that after reviewing 32 published, peer-reviewed studies, the authors were unable to connect firefighters to an increased risk of developing or dying from heart disease at a rate higher than their counterparts outside the profession. Furthermore, the authors were unable to find supportive data that would necessitate expanding or eliminating the established time periods in current law. Therefore, they were unable to make a recommendation. Based on this report, the data do not support the removal of requirements of exposure to toxics and physical exertion from firefighting from the presumption.

Workers’ compensation rates for firefighters have skyrocketed by nearly 50% in recent years, largely due to presumptive occupational disease claims. Expanding presumptive occupational diseases would likely result in even higher rate increases in the future.

Dates to remember

HB 1571 is scheduled for executive action in the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee on January 28 at 8 am.

SB 6180 is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee on January 27 at 10:30 am.