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Bill to Provide Health Insurance to
Volunteers Passes Senate Committee
March 20, 2008 – House Bill 1334, Concerning Health
Insurance for Emergency Services Volunteers was
heard by Senate Local Government Committee today and
took another step towards becoming law. The bill
was amended in committee to include not-for-profit,
nongovernmental entities providing fire protection
or EMS within the scope of the legislation. It was
then passed on a unanimous vote to the full Senate
for 2nd reading with the recommendation
that it be placed on the “consent calendar.” This
means that the committee believes it a
non-controversial bill so no floor debate is needed.
HB-1334, by State Rep. Rob Witwer and State Sen.
Mike Kopp, would allow local governments to provide
group health care coverage to emergency services
volunteers and the authority to participate in a
health insurance pool for such volunteers.
Testifying in committee on behalf of the bill was
Bret Gibson, Fire Chief of the Four Mile Fire
Department (Boulder County), and Larkspur Fire Chief
Jamey Bumgarner. They were joined by CSFCA
Executive Director Paul Cooke, Howard Paul of the
EMS Association of Colorado and the Colorado SAR
Board, and John Singer of the Colorado State Fire
Fighters Association. Additional compelling
testimony on the need for the bill came from Jerome
Stiller of Alpine Rescue Team, Evergreen and Dan
O'Sullivan, formerly of Larimer County SAR Team.
In presenting his bill, Sen. Kopp told the members
of Senate Local Government Committee that “it
addresses two important issues, the need to provide
tools to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters
and the need for affordable health care.” Kopp said
that “this is something we (the legislature) should
have done long ago.”
The idea for the bill was brought forward by the
Colorado State Fire Chiefs’ Association (CSFCA) in
response to the suggestion made by Director Gary
Whitfield of the Telluride Fire District at the
CSFCA’s Volunteer Chief Officer’s Section meeting
held in Breckenridge last November. The suggestion,
as a means to address a real need, as well as to
impact the problem of volunteer recruitment and
retention, won unanimous support from the Volunteer
Chiefs Section and then the CSFCA Board of
Directors.
Rep. Witwer, who clearly recognizes the significant
contribution made by the volunteer fire service in
the protection of the citizens and visitors to
Colorado, was quick to act. His response to the
suggestion of proposed legislation was, “if it will
help the volunteer fire service, let’s get it done.”
According to CSFCA Executive Director Paul Cooke,
“across the state and nation the number of volunteer
firefighters has been declining for years.” Cooke
added that “while local governments have recognized
the decreasing numbers of volunteers, they have been
hard pressed to identify specific measures to
control the decline and recruit new volunteers.”
“This bill will provide one more tool in the tool
chest to help address this issue,” Cooke said.
According to the CSFCA, 62% of the fire departments
in the state are all-volunteer. An additional 27%
of the fire departments are combination career and
volunteer, relying on volunteer firefighters to
supplement the paid staff. There are an estimated
9,450 active volunteer firefighters in the state
(about 63% of all firefighters). |
