Health bill exempts volunteers, just in case
Dec. 12--VIRGINIA BEACH -- A bipartisan group of U.S. senators took steps Wednesday to protect volunteer fire and rescue workers from a problem that might not even exist.
Democratic Sen. Mark Warner and others introduced a bill that keeps cities and towns from having to provide health care for volunteer emergency workers, a cost that would drive most rural volunteer fire houses out of business.
There's no indication they need to provide the service, but reports in recent weeks by Fox News, other media outlets and opponents of the Affordable Care Act created a frenzy that sparked fear and prompted both houses of Congress to introduce measures Wednesday.
The health care law calls for companies that employ more than 50 full-time workers -- those who work more than 30 hours per week -- to provide health insurance. The new bill, which has broad support, mandates that volunteer firefighters and medics not be counted as employees.
But legal experts and safety officials said they didn't think those trying to protect volunteer firefighters and rescue workers had anything to worry about, even without the legislation.
"Everything that I've read so far is that it doesn't affect us. We've been monitoring it, of course, but I think a lot of the concern is out of place," said Ed Brazle, administrative division chief of Virginia Beach's Emergency Medical Services, which has 555 volunteer medics. "The big concern is compensated employees, and our people don't get paid, so I don't see an issue. But we are happy they've addressed it."
Some volunteer fire squads, particularly in rural areas, receive small stipends for their work. That raised the question of whether the Internal Revenue Service, the ultimate arbiter of implementing the health care system, would classify them as employees.
International Association of Fire Chiefs President William Metcalf sent a letter Sept. 10 to the IRS, outlining the organization's concerns and explaining why volunteers must be exempt. Metcalf noted that 72 percent of all firefighters nationwide are volunteers.
On its website, the IRS has a section devoted specifically to firefighters, which lumps volunteers and paid staff into the same category as "employees for federal tax purposes." Fox News posted a blog this week, "Public Safety Disaster," highlighting that text, but a close read of the provision shows it was aimed at making sure all workers, volunteer or not, report all their stipends as income, even small amounts.
It did not address the Affordable Care Act.
Wednesday's bill by Warner and senators from other states with large volunteer contingents such as Maine and Pennsylvania ends any controversy. If passed, as expected, the issue will be put to rest.
"Even before that Fox report, we have heard from mostly rural departments all over Virginia who are concerned, and for them, this gives them some relief," said Warner spokesman Kevin Hall. "For them, it was a legitimate concern, and we wanted to address that.
"What we're talking here is removing any ambiguity of what the IRS may do, and telling them, 'This is our intent with the law.' "
Jill Hanken, an attorney with the Virginia Poverty Law Center, said the controversy appears to be a "fabrication."
"Are we going to start looking at churches and hospitals? So many of our charities depend on the dedication and good work of volunteers," said Hanken, who specializes on the health care law. "This sounds like some kind of scare tactic to undermine the Affordable Care Act."
John Holland, 757-222-5047, john.holland@pilotonline.com
Copyright 2013 - The Virginian-Pilot
