Wildfire Today

The Departments of Interior and Agriculture are working closely, and quickly, with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to implement President Obama’s directive to allow seasonal firefighters to purchase health insurance. It could happen in a matter of days. Yes, the federal government can accomplish things in a hurry when motivated.

After the details are ironed out as to which categories of employees will be eligible, the only thing that has to happen to make it a reality is for OPM to publish a new interim rule. And they are planning on eliminating requirements for lengthy notification periods and public comments so that it would be effective immediately. Public comments will still be accepted while the interim rule is in effect, and it is possible there could be changes before it becomes final. Then the agency human resources folks will have to figure out how to implement the new rule, if and when it goes into effect.

The strategy OPM is planing to use is to latch on to an existing regulation. Currently the only circumstances under which seasonal or temporary employees may secure coverage under the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) program are those set forth in 5 U.S.C. 8906a, which entitles temporary employees who have completed one full year of continuous employment to secure coverage at their own expense. Seasonal firefighters, of course, do not work continuously for a year, so they do not qualify under this provision. OPM intends to change this to make firefighters eligible for the FEHB program.

But… and it’s a big BUT. The way we are interpreting this, is that firefighters would have to pay the full cost of the insurance premium, without any cost sharing from their employer, the federal government, which pays about 70 or 75 percent for career employees. While this would be a substantial expense for a GS-3 or GS-4 employee working for three or six months a year, it would not cost as much as purchasing health insurance on the open market, since firefighters could take advantage of the group pricing provided for a very large pool of customers, federal employees.

Another benefit to seasonal firefighters is that there would be no screening or rate adjustment for pre-existing health conditions. This could be huge a advantage for some family members of firefighters.

And we’re not done yet. In an early draft of the proposed rule, the OPM is considering allowing employees who routinely respond to hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and other such emergencies, to enroll in a health benefits plan.

All of the above is subject to change. We won’t know anything for sure until the interim and ultimately the final rules are published.

What next?

While this rule change, allowing seasonal firefighters to enroll in the FEHB, is a major step in the right direction, it should not be the final answer. Seasonal firefighters do not make a lot of money and many will not be able to pay 100 percent of the insurance premium. Changes should be made to require their employing agency to pay their 70-75 percent share as is done for career employees. Or, make all firefighters career employees.

From the sound of this story that appeared on the KTVZ web site, this accident, which occurred at 2:15 am on Tuesday, could have been a lot worse.

We hope the seriously injured firefighter recovers quickly.

Here is an excerpt from the site:

The driver of a van carrying wildland firefighters fell asleep and the van collided nearly head-on with a semi-truck on Highway 126 west of Prineville early Tuesday, critically injuring one passenger, Oregon State Police reported.

The other nine firefighters in the van were treated and released, and the van driver was cited, troopers said.

The collision occurred around 2:15 a.m., as a 2000 Chevrolet van carrying 10 people was en route to the John Day area, responding to assist firefighting efforts at a wildfire, troopers said.

The van driven by Jeremy Miesner, 35, of Salem, was eastbound on Highway 126E near milepost 12, negotiating, a curve when Miesner fell asleep, troopers said.

The van drifted into the westbound lane and crashed into the left front side of a Freightliner truck driven by Scott Ramage, 48, of Washington.

The van sustained major left side damage and all 10 occupants were taken by ambulance or helicopter to Bend, Prineville and Redmond hospitals. The truck’s driver and 39-year old male sleeping passenger were not injured.

 
Thanks go out to Chuck and Shaun.

The Denver Post is reporting that President Obama has directed that federal agencies offer seasonal firefighters the opportunity to purchase health insurance. The President talked with firefighters when he visited the Waldo Canyon Fire at Colorado Springs on June 29 and stuck around to sign autographs for them after he made a statement for the media.

The issue of health insurance for seasonal firefighters has been getting increasing press coverage since some of them created an on-line petition which as been “signed” over 126,000 times. We covered it initially on May 24, and then NBC national news did a story on it recently. Local news outlets around the west have also given it some attention.

Some people thought a new law would have to be passed by Congress in order for firefighters to have the opportunity to purchase health insurance, but apparently the President is bypassing Congress to make it happen.

This will have a major effect on the budgets of the five large land management agencies, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out, including reactions from other seasonal employees in the federal government.

But, congratulations, wildland firefighters, and especially those who started the petition and brought this before the public. You deserve it!

Thanks go out to Ken