Workers Compensation For Volunteer Firefighters Remains A Heated Topic
As municipal budgets shrink and insurance costs increase
, communities throughout the U.S. are struggling to provide workers compensation for volunteer firefighters and emergency personnel.
Seventy percent of the more than 1.1 million firefighters in the U.S. are volunteers, serving mostly in small communities that find it difficult to pay for rising insurance premiums. This is balanced by insurance companies struggle to fairly calculate premiums for a high-risk job that provides little or no income.
Responding to nearly all of the same emergencies that career firefighters face, volunteers are at similar or higher risk for injury or sickness, including multiple forms of cancer. Studies from the National Fire Protection Association have shown that volunteers are at slightly higher risk of suffering injury or death than career firefighters.
Most states currently provide workers comp benefits to volunteers who are injured in the line of duty, but injured volunteers and insurance companies
often disagree on the legal definition of that phrase.
For insurers, calculating premiums for volunteers poses a large challenge, given the lack of income and increased risk. This challenge is compounded by the different payroll calculations used by individual states, counties and cities. Each state requires different payroll calculations and coverage, adding barriers to entry for smaller insurance companies. Insurers must calculate everything from local fire trends to the condition of the volunteer fire house to determine appropriate premiums.
While most communities do offer some sort of
workers compensation, many provide only disability payments. Because a fire-related injury can keep volunteers sidelined from their paying job for months at a time, injured volunteer firefighters face increased financial harm from an injury.
Each volunteer fire department operates differently, including how it is funded. Departments are typically supported by city, county, or district taxes. As city budgets get slashed, however, many departments are augmenting funding with donations, grants, or by linking up with nearby volunteer departments to cover shared territory.
West Virginia recently passed a
Workers Compensation Premium Subsidy to cover the increased cost of insurance premiums for its local volunteer firefighters. The $5 million fund is intended to help departments throughout the state, some of which have seen
premium increases of up to 700%. In the past, unpaid claims have forced West Virginia departments to
shut down service.
A National Problem
Nationally, efforts have been made to help clarify the role of volunteers by having them defined as independent contractors, rather than volunteers. The Volunteer Firefighters Fairness Act, a 2010 bill that is still active, would list firefighters as employees of the volunteer department, and would require volunteers to report benefits to the IRS.
While the bill would reduce the tax burden of volunteer departments, the National Volunteer Fire Council argues it would
reduce the effectiveness of incentives departments can offer to attract volunteers including paid expenses, small payment, and existing health benefits.
Solutions
Fighting fire with fire may sometimes be the best strategy, but volunteer firefighters will always be needed to help small communities that cannot afford full-time, career firefighters. So, how should leaders balance the need for emergency response with ever shrinking budgets? This is an issue that unfortunately cannot be decided at the local level in each city or county. State or federal-level action will need to be taken to help fire departments meet the needs of their communities and their volunteers. Below are some of the pros and cons of supporting coverage for workers compensation.
Pros:
Firefighting and emergency response are obviously dangerous jobs, and the volunteers in these jobs are should be protected. According to the National Volunteer Fire Council, volunteer numbers have declined by 14% since 1984. A lack of effective incentives; increased physical requirements; and regulations and societal pressures have resulted in a decline in volunteerism. Without coverage of fire-related injuries, or if volunteers must foot the tax bill for benefits from their own pocket, departments will be left with fewer and fewer volunteers.
With such a heavy reliance on volunteer firefighters, it is crucial for volunteers to be taken care of. Allowing departments to join together to pool their insurance risk could help alleviate the burden of individual departments.
Cons:
But while numbers decline, the average volunteer age has increased. While this leaves departments with more experienced volunteers, increasing the scope of workers compensation coverage to cover a broader health base will muddy the waters for insurance companies.
The costs of operation for all volunteer stations have increased. Increased fuel costs, greater training and equipment regulations and higher call volumes drain already cash-strapped volunteer departments. Increasing the cost of workers compensation insurance will only add to the burden many departments face.
by: Michael Cushing
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