PHOENIX — Governor Katie Hobbs held a ceremonial signing on Friday for two new bills related to firefighters and their health.
One bans forever chemicals in firefighting foam.
The other, known as the comma bill, fixes a punctuation mistake in state law that led to major problems with insurance companies for firefighters battling cancer.
"I'm really glad we are able to fix this," Hobbs said shortly after the signing.
The original law listed adenocarcinoma as a covered cancer, eligible for workers’ compensation. But the law was missing a comma after the word “adenocarcinoma.”
Insurance companies used that typo to deny coverage, arguing the law only covered adenocarcinoma in the respiratory tract. The new law makes clear that adenocarcinoma is a stand-alone cancer and eligible for coverage, regardless of where it occurs in the body.
“Senate Bill 1215 sends a very clear message. Arizona will not allow insurance companies to exploit ambiguity in the law at the expense of sick firefighters," said Dan Freiberg, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Arizona.
Sun City firefighter Matt O'Reilly spent more than a year fighting to get his cancer claim covered. His cancer was not in his respiratory tract, so his claim was initially denied.
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O'Reilly and his wife, Whitney, were special guests Friday at the governor's news conference.
"When you're diagnosed with cancer your world gets very small. You start thinking about your wife and your children. You start thinking about whether you'll be OK," O'Reilly said as his voice broke his eyes filled with tears.
"You think about surgery, treatment and recovery. Never thought about having to fight for my benefits, though," he said.
O'Reilly credited ABC15 for telling his story last December.
"I'm ultimately grateful to you. I believe you bringing light to this story got us to where we are today.” O'Reilly said to ABC15.
The new law also includes a retroactive provision, covering cancer cases dating back to 2021 — when the original legislation expanding cancer coverage went into effect.
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