Florida Heart and Lung Bill Benefits for First Responders

Florida’s Heart and Lung Bill, Section 112.18 of the Florida Statutes, presumes that if a qualifying firefighter, law enforcement officer, correctional officer, or correctional probation officer develops tuberculosis, heart disease, or hypertension, the condition came from the job. That presumption flips the usual burden of proof in a workers’ compensation claim: instead of the employee proving the work connection, the employer or its carrier must produce competent medical evidence that the condition is not work-related. The practical effect is faster, easier access to medical care, disability income, and death benefits through Chapter 440.

Who the Statute Covers

Four categories of full-time public employees qualify: firefighters, law enforcement officers, correctional officers, and correctional probation officers.¹ Firefighters must work for a state, municipal, county, port authority, special tax district, or fire control district agency. The other three roles are defined by cross-reference to Section 943.10, which requires full-time employment, and, for law enforcement, authority to carry firearms and make arrests with primary responsibility for crime prevention, detection, or enforcement.²

Full-time status is the line. Part-time officers, reserve deputies, agency support staff, and private security personnel fall outside the statute. You must hold an active role in one of the four categories at the time of diagnosis to trigger the presumption.

What Conditions Are Covered

Three conditions, and only three: tuberculosis, heart disease, and hypertension. When a qualifying first responder develops any of them and it produces total or partial disability or death, the law presumes the condition was accidental and suffered in the line of duty.¹ Cancer, respiratory illnesses other than tuberculosis, and other cardiovascular events outside the “heart disease” umbrella are not covered under this statute.

The presumption also operates only inside the workers’ compensation system. It does not automatically extend to life insurance or private disability insurance policies unless the insurer and the employee separately negotiated for that coverage.³

The Pre-Employment Physical Requirement

The presumption has a gatekeeper. When you entered service, you must have passed a physical examination that showed no evidence of tuberculosis, heart disease, or hypertension.¹ If the entry physical documented a borderline blood pressure reading or any early sign of one of these conditions, the presumption may not apply.

Claims fail here more often than anywhere else. Old records get lost. Agencies purge files. An unremarkable notation from twenty years ago becomes a carrier’s central argument. For firefighters, the statute cushions this problem: if the employing agency fails to keep pre-employment physical records for at least five years after separation, the law presumes the clean-bill-of-health requirement was met.³ Firefighters who never received a pre-employment physical can substitute the certification medical exam required under Section 633.412(5), provided it too came back clean.

No equivalent record-keeping backstop exists for law enforcement, correctional, or correctional probation officers. If you work in one of those roles, locate your original pre-employment physical before you file.

How the Presumption Can Be Rebutted

The presumption is not absolute. The employer or carrier can defeat it with competent evidence that the condition did not arise from work. In practice, carriers point to non-occupational risk factors: tobacco use, obesity, family history, diet, and sedentary behavior outside the job.

For law enforcement, correctional, and correctional probation officers who filed claims on or after July 1, 2010, the statute adds another avenue. If the officer materially departed from a course of treatment prescribed by their personal physician, and that departure demonstrably worsened the condition, the presumption flips against the officer.¹ The same rule applies to officers who previously received compensation for a covered condition and later file a new claim. “Prescribed course of treatment” refers to the specific medical actions and medications documented in the physician’s records for the particular condition.³ When the parties dispute whether the plan was appropriate or whether the departure actually caused the worsening, an expert medical advisor resolves it.

Benefits You Can Receive

Claims run through Florida’s workers’ compensation system, so the benefit categories are the standard three: medical treatment, disability income, and death benefits.

Medical Care

The carrier pays for all reasonable and medically necessary treatment tied to the covered condition. For heart disease or hypertension that typically means cardiologist visits, diagnostic testing, medications, surgical procedures, and cardiac rehabilitation. No copays or deductibles apply.

Disability Payments

Temporary total disability benefits pay 66.67 percent of your average weekly wage while you cannot work, capped at 104 weeks.⁴ The maximum weekly benefit for injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2026, is $1,358.⁵

Once you reach maximum medical improvement or hit the 104-week ceiling, temporary benefits end and a permanent impairment rating is assessed. Permanent impairment benefits pay 75 percent of the temporary total rate, with duration tied to the rating: two weeks per percentage point for ratings up to 10 percent, three weeks per point for 11 to 15 percent, four weeks per point for 16 to 20 percent, and six weeks per point above 20 percent. Permanent total disability pays 66.67 percent of the average weekly wage for the duration of the disability.⁴

How to File a Claim

The process is time-sensitive. Missing a deadline can end a claim that would otherwise succeed.

Give Written Notice Within 30 Days

Tell your employer about the diagnosis within 30 days of the date of diagnosis or the date you first became aware the condition was work-related. Late notice bars the claim unless you can show the employer wasn’t prejudiced by the delay, or the cause of the condition could not be identified without a medical opinion and you notified the employer within 30 days of receiving that opinion.⁶ Put the notice in writing. Verbal conversations are hard to prove later.

Gather Your Documentation

While the employer handles its own reporting to the carrier, assemble the evidence that supports the presumption:

The report from your pre-employment physical, showing no evidence of tuberculosis, heart disease, or hypertension.
A formal diagnosis from a licensed physician identifying one of the three covered conditions, with supporting clinical results such as electrocardiograms, blood pressure readings, or imaging.
Employment records showing dates of service, job classification, and certification status confirming you held a covered role at the time of diagnosis.
Existing treatment records, if care has already begun, showing how the condition affects your ability to perform your duties.

Watch the Two-Year Filing Deadline

Beyond the 30-day notice, you must file a petition for benefits within two years of the date you knew or should have known the condition arose from your employment. For Heart and Lung claims the clock generally starts at diagnosis, because the presumption itself establishes the work connection. Any payment of indemnity benefits or medical treatment provided under the claim resets the limitations clock for one additional year from the date of the last payment or treatment.⁷ That tolling does not extend to disputes over compensability, maximum medical improvement, or impairment ratings.

What Happens After the Claim Is Filed

The carrier must pay the first installment of disability compensation or deny the claim within 14 calendar days after the employer receives notification of the injury, assuming the disability is immediate and continuous for at least eight days. If the carrier is uncertain about its obligation, it must begin a good-faith investigation and either accept or deny compensability within 120 days after first providing benefits or care.⁸

Expect the carrier to scrutinize two things: whether the pre-employment physical was truly clean, and whether non-occupational factors better explain the diagnosis. If the carrier denies the claim, you can petition for a hearing before a Judge of Compensation Claims, the specialized judicial officers who resolve disputed workers’ compensation cases in Florida.⁹ Keep a written log of every communication with the carrier and your employer. Disputes over the presumption often turn on documentation, and gaps become the carrier’s best argument.

Attorney Fees

Florida caps attorney fees in workers’ compensation cases on a declining scale tied to the value of benefits secured: 20 percent of the first $5,000 in benefits, 15 percent of the next $5,000, 10 percent of remaining benefits provided during the first 10 years after filing, and 5 percent of benefits beyond 10 years.¹⁰ A judge of compensation claims must approve the fee, and no fee agreement can exceed the statutory limits. Because the presumption is a substantial advantage, many attorneys treat Heart and Lung claims as stronger cases than typical workers’ compensation matters.

A Note on PTSD

The Heart and Lung Bill covers tuberculosis, heart disease, and hypertension only. Post-traumatic stress disorder from job-related trauma is handled separately under Section 112.1815, which makes PTSD a compensable occupational disease for qualifying first responders without requiring a physical injury.¹¹ That statute has its own tighter requirements, including specific triggering events, diagnosis by a licensed psychiatrist, and a clear-and-convincing medical evidence standard. A first responder dealing with both a cardiovascular condition and job-related PTSD may have simultaneous claims under both statutes.

1
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 112.18 – Firefighters and Law Enforcement or Correctional Officers; Special Provisions Relative to Disability
2
Florida Senate. Florida Code 943.10 – Definitions
3
Florida Senate. Florida Code 112.18 – Firefighters and Law Enforcement or Correctional Officers; Special Provisions Relative to Disability
4
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 440.15 – Compensation for Disability
5
Florida Department of Financial Services. Maximum Workers Compensation Rate, Effective January 1, 2026
6
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 440.185 – Notice of Injury or Death; Reports; Penalties for Violations
7
Florida Senate. Florida Code 440.19 – Limitation of Time
8
Florida Senate. Florida Code 440.20 – Time for Payment of Compensation and Reports by Employer
9
Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims. Office of the Judges of Compensation Claims
10
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 440.34 – Attorney Fees; Costs
11
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 112.1815 – Firefighters; Law Enforcement Officers; Correctional Officers; Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics