28-02-2025
This law would help make all police equal
BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP)–Police officers from the city of Springfield to Mount Holyoke College receive the same training and pass the same tests, but they don't receive the same health care coverage or retirement benefits if they have a heart attack.
Police officers are 25 times more likely to experience cardiac disease than any other profession, so in 1950, Massachusetts passed the Heart Law, ensuring these officers have proper insurance and retirement care.
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In 2025, nearly 400 officers are left out of this care–like college campus, mental health, and MassPORT police–simply because their agencies were not listed in the text of the bill.
Ludlow Senator Jake Oliveira, alongside officers and advocates from across the state, are looking to update the law.
Jose Rivera is the chief of police at Springfield Technical Community College. He suffered a heart attack that began at work, and knew he'd have to return to work quickly to support his family.
'I knew then as I know today that I'm not covered by the Heart Law. Retirement at that point, or even now, would be financially devastating,' said Rivera.
Advocates for the law, including a UMass Amherst lieutenant, clarified that officers seeking benefits from the Heart Law would undergo medical examinations to determine eligibility.
'Including these forgotten officers does not grant automatic shelter. It simply opens the door for them to seek it,' said UMass Amherst Police Lieutenant James Sullivan.
This bill made it through the legislative process to the Senate Ways and Means Committee last session, only for it to stall and eventually die. Seventy years after the original Heart Law, advocates say the time for lawmaker action is now.
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