Firefighters with cancer having workers' compensation claims denied, despite Utah law

WEST JORDAN — Utah lawmakers promised help for firefighters diagnosed with certain cancers. But when West Jordan firefighter and paramedic Justin Young's prostate cancer returned, getting that help became another fight.

Young has spent nearly 23 years in the fire service. He was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2023. At the time, doctors thought they removed it. But it came back.

"I feel like I'm pretty strong, but it kind of hits you," he said.

Delays and a denial

In 2025, Utah lawmakers expanded a law that presumes certain cancers, including prostate cancer, are work-related for firefighters.

So Young filed a claim with his workers' compensation insurance company, Travelers Insurance.

Get Gephardt asked Young, "When did you get the ball rolling with workers' comp?"

"So I was diagnosed on April 29. The paperwork was filed on April 30," Young said.

Then he waited.

"I'm waiting, and I'm waiting for insurance, and then I'm waiting on this, and then I'm working on that," Young said.

Under Utah's workers' compensation rules, insurers generally have 21 days to make a decision or give notice that they need more time to investigate. An extension gives them 45 days total to make a decision.

When Young contacted Get Gephardt, he had gone more than 100 days without an approval or a denial. He said he was unable to move forward with treatment while he waited.

After 111 days, he got his answer: Travelers denied his claim because his cancer was first discovered before the expanded law took effect.

"It appears that your condition was discovered prior to the presumptive effective date of July 1," Young read from the denial letter.

"The insurance company is almost treating it like a preexisting condition," he said.

Get Gephardt asked Travelers about the denial.

In an email, a company spokesperson wrote, "We evaluate each workers' compensation claim individually, on its merits and in accordance with applicable state laws. Based on the available evidence, we determined that the statutory presumption does not apply to Mr. Young's claim. This decision applies only to the presumption. We will reevaluate our decision when we receive new information."

As for why it took more than 100 days to get an answer, Utah Labor Commission spokesman Eric Olsen tells Get Gephardt that patient privacy issues slowed the process beyond the statutory deadlines of 21 days, or 45 days when an investigation is required.

"A carrier is not strictly held to these time frames if good cause exists for the delay," Olsen said. "Investigating the claim or delays beyond the carrier's control qualify as good cause."

Not what lawmakers intended

Get Gephardt took Young's case to Rep. Casey Snider, R-Paradise, who sponsored the law expanding the presumption that certain cancers diagnosed in firefighters are supposed to be considered workplace injuries.

"That is ludicrous. That is crazy," Snider said.

Snider said Young is not alone. He said he has heard about 30 to 40 firefighters caught in the coverage gap since the law passed.

"I will tell you, at this juncture, I have yet to speak to someone in the fire service who has had that initial (cancer) hit who is trying to resolve this problem that has had a positive experience," Snider said.

Snider said "process is getting in the way of people," and the law is falling short of what he intended.

"I am frustrated with some on the insurer side that are not being as helpful as they could be," Snider said.

Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan, has also been working on the issue.

"We intended for those firefighters to be covered," Teuscher said. "We're hearing stories from firefighters that we ... certainly intended to be covered underneath the bill that aren't getting the coverage that they need."

Snider and Teuscher said lawmakers plan to address the gap in the next legislative session. Teuscher trails in the unofficial count in his reelection race. He told Get Gephardt he's confident a colleague will take up the issue.

"We'll come back this next session and make sure that we clean it up so that all of the firefighters that we intended to be covered underneath this bill have access to the coverage that they need to, and that we make the process as easy as possible for the firefighters," Teuscher said.

Firefighter Cancer Benefit Trust Fund

Utah lawmakers created the Firefighter Cancer Benefit Trust Fund in 2026 to help firefighters who need to start cancer treatment while their workers' compensation claims are still being processed.

Teuscher, who sponsored the bill, said he expects about $7 million to $10 million to come into the fund each year. He said the idea is to help firefighters get "the treatment that they need and not have to worry about finances while all the paperwork is being processed."

But the fund has yet to start paying out. Teuscher said the board began meeting in October and is still deciding how to distribute the money. It has looked at Colorado's approach, where payments vary by the type of cancer, and Arizona's, where the fund reimburses costs and is later repaid. Utah law requires the board to submit its recommendations to lawmakers before Dec. 1.

Until then, the fund is not helpful for firefighters with denied workers' compensation claims who are caught in the gap between what lawmakers say was the intent of the law and how it is being interpreted by some insurance companies.

"So unfortunately for a firefighter and that situation, they just have to wait until the board comes and makes that decision," Teuscher said.

No relief for Young, yet

Young said he has started treatment through his own health insurance.

"I feel like maybe I'm walking this a little bit alone," Young said. "If you call 911, if somebody from Travelers calls 911, if my state representative calls 911, either me, one of my brothers, or one of my sisters in the fire service is going to respond. And to feel like that is not reciprocated? That's kind of a gut punch on top of it all."