A firefighter employed as a full-time paid employee of a fire department of the state or a city, town, fire or water district, shall be provided a cancer screening examination conducted by a physician not less than three years after the start of the firefighter’s employment as a firefighter and every three years thereafter during the course of the firefighter’s employment.

This section shall also apply to members of the Massachusetts military reservation fire department, members of the 104th fighter wing fire department, and members of the Devens fire department established pursuant to chapter 498 of the acts of 1993 and, for the purposes of this section, the Massachusetts Port Authority, the Massachusetts Military Reservation, the Barnes Air National Guard Base and the Devens Regional Enterprise Zone established pursuant to said chapter 498 shall be fire districts.

The examination shall include screening for, at a minimum and when applicable, the following cancers: colon; lung; bladder; oral; thyroid; skin; blood; breast; cervical; testicular; and prostate.

All costs associated with screenings provided under this section shall be borne by the firefighter’s health care benefits plan or program provided by the firefighter’s employer. No co-payment, deductible, coinsurance, or any out-of-pocket expense shall be required for such examinations. 

This act shall take effect immediately upon passage.