NJ S1583

Volunteer firefighters in New Jersey fire districts, departments, units, or companies would receive cancer screening examinations every three years, starting three years after beginning volunteer service.

Screenings must cover 11 cancer types when applicable: colon, lung, bladder, oral, thyroid, skin, blood, breast, cervical, testicular, and prostate cancers.

State Health Benefits Program network physicians would conduct the examinations, with the State reimbursing providers up to $1,250 per firefighter per three-year period.

Volunteer firefighters would pay no co-payments, deductibles, coinsurance, or out-of-pocket expenses for these screenings.

The bill extends cancer screening benefits already available to paid firefighters under current law to unpaid volunteer firefighters, with funding from the State General Fund.