Volunteer Fire Departments May See Roof Collapse Under Obamacare

[XLFD]

 Larger volunteer fire departments may find themselves in dire straits due to mandates for health insurance that are required by the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).  Fortunately, no local departments are that huge (Ludington can have up to 21 part-paid members, fully staffed), but nearby areas like Grand Traverse FD (see the link in the article below) face some tough decisions while other fiscal realities are also setting in. 

The problem will also affect bigger city fire departments who may have many more than 50 employees, including usually a large contingent of volunteers or part-paid volunteers.  Will departments decide to reorganize to sidestep the issue or will they have to cut manpower used not only for firefighting, but also emergency medical responses and rescue operations?

The Affordable Care Act's health insurance mandate requires any employer with more than 50 employees to offer health insurance to its workers. While the negative impact on small businesses is well known, a more sinister side effect of the implemented plan is just surfacing – the potential end to volunteer firefighters.

According to the AP, volunteer firefighter groups across the country often list their volunteers as employees for tax purposes, even when they are not paid. The job may not offer a salary, but it often offers perks like using the firehouse gym or contributing to a retirement plan. It's the most that many of these organizations can do to incentivize individuals to work as firefighters in places where the state's firefighter forces may not be enough to keep residents safe. 

Now groups that can't afford to pay for salaries for their volunteers might be expected to buy them all health insurance. Due to the nature of the trade, it is feasible that many volunteers go in and out of the league, raising the number on duty at any given time artificially for government purposes. If the firefighter leagues cannot pay for health insurance for volunteers, they will be forced to close down. There is no exception written into the Obamacare legislation for volunteer groups permitted to list volunteers on their taxes.

In the small New Jersey town of Middletown, Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger called the potential impact on his volunteer firefighter league and emergency medical services volunteers "tragic" and "a disaster" at a community meeting. The town currently has no way of knowing just how much the mandate will affect the groups, but should the federal government fine them for not providing volunteers insurance, they may have to shut down essential emergency services. In Pennsylvania, Congressman Lou Barletta is lobbying for clarification from the IRS in the hopes of saving his state's emergency services. That state's Fire Commissioner, Edward Mann, has outright said his state could "not afford" such a mandate whatsoever. Similarly, in Grand Traverse, Michigan, firefighters have resolved to try to "do more with less" at fires but give no guarantee that they will be able to serve. 

New Jersey legislators are working to carve out an exception to protect these services, though whether they have the power to do so without the federal government's intervention is up in the air given the unique nature of this law. On a larger scale, the International Association of Fire Chiefs is lobbying the IRS for answers as well. With the ACA in effect for six days and complete silence from the federal government, the odds that many of these emergency services can be saved dwindle every day.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/01/05/Mayors-Alarmed-A...

(photos courtesy of Mason County Press, Grant Twp. FD at garage fire, and mutual Ludington and Pere Marquette FD at Applebees)

[Willy]

Wouldn't volunteer fire fighters be considered part time employees and therefore not required to have Obama care provided. Also wouldn't the fire fighters regular job work place be required to provide health insurance and if they don't wouldn't the fire fighters then be required to enroll in Obama care themselves?

[XLFD]

The AP link in the first paragraph (in italics below) of the article answers that first question-- somewhat-- which is still open to interpretation.  For your second question, remember that most volunteers are on call 24/7 and thus could be said to work 168 hrs/wk as a firefighter, even though they may work over 30 hours elsewhere per week, making a question as to which job provides the care:

Fire chiefs and lawmakers are working to protect the system of volunteer firefighting that has served rural America for more than a century but is threatened by an ambiguity in the federal health overhaul.

Volunteer firefighters are considered employees for tax purposes because they're often offered such incentives as stipends, retirement benefits and gym memberships.

That leaves open the question of whether they'll fall under the health care law's requirement that employers with 50 or more employees working at least 30 hours a week must provide health insurance for them.

Small-town fire chiefs say they can't afford to pay for health insurance for volunteers.

But others say it's too early to ring the alarm. The federal government is expected to release its regulations this year that could answer the question.

[Dave]

I think this is another fine example of something that should not of been in the bill to begin with but because no one read the thing before ramming it through, it slipped by.