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Breakthrough on Hometown Heroes?
October 9, 2007 -- Department of Justice
officials who administer the Public Safety Officer Benefits
(PSOB) program have announced that DoJ is overhauling the
way it determines eligibility for heart attacks and strokes.
Domingo Herraiz, Director of the Bureau of Justice
Assistance, spoke at a gathering of fire service
organizations and promised to make significant changes in
the way his agency evaluates PSOB claims under the Hometown
Heroes Act.
“We are cautiously optimistic that after four long years the
Department of Justice will finally implement this important
law the way it was intended,” says IAFF General President
Harold Schaitberger. “But before declaring victory, we need
to see some solid results. It’s great that DoJ is ‘talking
the talk,’ now lets see if they ‘walk the walk.’ ”
Changes that DoJ plans to undertake include ending the
request for 10 years of medical history before approving a
claim and clarifying that all emergency responses are
inherently stressful. Concerns have been raised in the past
that claims may have been denied because the fire fighter
suffered a heart attack after engaging in what a DoJ
investigator labeled a “routine activity.” New policy
guidance makes clear that responding to a call should never
been considered “routine.”
In addition to using new guidelines to evaluate claims,
Herraiz also announced the hiring of additional staff to
alleviate the current backlog and promised to personally
review all appeals of denials. He pledged to ensure that DoJ
will abide by the intent of Congress that widows of fallen
fire fighters should always be given the benefit of the
doubt.
The IAFF was instrumental in obtaining the original PSOB federal
benefit in 1976, which was then $50,000. Further, the IAFF was the principal
author of every amendment to the act affecting our members’ coverage and the
benefit amounts. Due to the IAFF's efforts in getting the benefits adjusted
annually and our efforts to double the amount after 9/11, the benefit as of
October 1 is $303,064.
Download the PSOB Program Policy Memorandums:
Medical Evidence
Nonroutine Stressful or Strenuous Physical
Activity
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