What you need to know about the Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act

December 30, 2025

The Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act (S. 237/H.R. 1269) was signed into law December 19, 2025, by President Donald Trump as part of the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. According to the Congressional Fire Services Institute, the Act “expands eligible conditions under the federal Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program to include certain cancers that result in death or permanent disability and are linked to service as a firefighter or other first responder.”

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death among firefighters, but until now, the PSOB Program did not reflect this fact. The Honor Act is a federal legislative win for the fire service and cements occupational cancer in firefighters as a line-of-duty death. In addition to recognizing cancer as a line-of-duty death, the bill expands benefits for survivors and establishes a presumption that certain cancers are job-related, eliminating the need to identify a specific exposure.

For South Carolina firefighters, the South Carolina Firefighter Cancer Health Care Benefit Plan has provided benefits to eligible firefighters diagnosed with qualifying cancers since it went into effect on July 1, 2021. An explanation of program benefits, beneficiary form, and the claim form are available online. The Honor Act does not impact benefits applied from the South Carolina Firefighter Cancer Health Care Benefit Plan.

Read more about The Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act.