Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act Extends LODD Benefits to Cancer Deaths
On December 19, 2025 President Trump signed into law the Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act, which updates the federal Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) program to recognize occupational cancer as a line-of-duty death. The bill extends death and educational benefits to survivors and presumes certain cancers are job related.
The legislation is retroactive for 5 years and applies to death claims involving exposure-related cancer from January 1, 2020 to the present. This legislation could have a significant impact on fire departments throughout Massachusetts, and would award more than $400,000 in benefits to eligible survivors.
There are 20 types of cancers specifically listed in the legislation:
bladder cancer; brain cancer; breast cancer; cervical cancer; colon cancer; colorectal cancer; esophageal cancer; kidney cancer; leukemia; lung cancer; malignant melanoma; mesothelioma; multiple myeloma; non-Hodgkins lymphoma; ovarian cancer; prostate cancer; skin cancer; stomach cancer; testicular cancer; thyroid cancer
The law also covers any cancer recognized as a World Trade Center–related health condition, and any additional cancers that may be added in the future through the process established in the law.
In order to be eligible for this benefit, the firefighter must have served for at least five years before the cancer diagnosis, and the cancer diagnosis occurred no more than 15 years after the fire fighter’s last date of active service. For some departments, this could mean that firefighters who retired more than 20 years ago could be eligible, provided that the date of death was on or after January 1, 2020.
Official guidance on the application process for cancer-related PSOB claims will be forthcoming in the next few months. In the meantime, FCAM encourages all fire departments to research and document any recent deaths that may be eligible for this benefit. An FCAM representative will be attending a PSOB training session with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation in March, and will be able to assist fire departments and families with completing cancer-related PSOB claims. A statewide web conference to go over the PSOB process and answer any questions is planned for late March, with further details to follow. If departments have any immediate questions or concerns you can contact Salisbury Fire Chief Scott Carrigan at scarrigan@salisburyma.gov or 978-992-7392.