Hometown Heroes Death Benefits Improperly Denied, Reports OIG

April 24, 2008 – The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has conducted a review of the Office of Justice Programs’ (OJP) implementation of the Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act of 2003 (Hometown Heroes Act) in response to concerns expressed by several members of Congress that OJP was taking too long to process claims submitted under the Act and that OJP’s narrow interpretation of terms found in the Act – in particular the phrases “non-routine stressful or strenuous physical activity” and “competent medical evidence to the contrary” – might be resulting in a high rate of claims denials.

The OIG report found that OJP improperly denied survivors' death benefits after the Justice Department decided they weren't responding to emergencies. The OIG made a number of additional recommendations to further manage and improve the claims process. These provisions are an important move forward in the recognition of occupational diseases that affect fire fighters.

Read the report and the IAFF PSOB Fact Sheet.

The Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act of 2003 amends the Public Safety Officer Benefits (PSOB) Act, and was signed into Law on December 15, 2003, establishing death benefits for public safety officers who die of heart attacks or strokes in the line of duty or within 24 hours of a triggering event while on duty. The HHA provision only covers deaths occurring on or after December 15, 2003. The Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act is not retroactive, and therefore, it does not apply to deaths occurring before December 15, 2003.

The first firefighter to die of a heart attack after the passage of the law was Fire Specialist Thomas Frank Brown of the Baltimore, MD Local 1311. On December 18, 2003, Brother Brown returned home from a shift in which he helped carry a heavy patient over a long distance to a stretcher. Some time after his wife left for work, Brown died. His survivors filed a claim for benefits under the new criteria.

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) was charged with establishing criteria to evaluate these claims. The first set of criteria was published by DOJ for public comment on July 26, 2005. An analysis conducted by the IAFF at the time found that no fire fighter heart attack deaths that had occurred since the law was enacted were payable under the proposed criteria. The IAFF led a coordinated effort among the major fire service organizations to revise the criteria.

By early 2007, a revised set of criteria was in place. But despite significant input from the IAFF and other fire service organizations, DOJ was making unfavorable decisions on claims, while the process remained painfully slow. In fact, by April of 2007, 200 cases were undecided, 38 had been disapproved and only two had been approved.

On April 20, 2007, the IAFF and seven other major fire service organizations sent a letter to the president asking him to review the program’s implementation in accordance with the law he had signed almost three and a half years earlier.

Finally, in early October of 2007 the Director of the Bureau of Justice began a concerted effort to finally speed up the review of these claims. That same month, PSOB benefits were approved for the survivors of Brother Thomas Brown.

However, as of March, 2008, a total of only 114 claims were approved, 76 were not approved and 104 claims remain to be resolved. Many of the originally denied cases have been appealed and five have been approved on appeal to date.

The IAFF will continue to monitor this program and to attempt to enhance its benefits in the future.