Volunteer firefighters, other emergency responders won't count as full-time under Obamacare

Volunteer fire departments that feared federal health reform could significantly harm their ability to provide services in rural communities need no longer worry. After hearing complaints from officials in towns that said they couldn't afford insurance coverage for volunteer firefighters and emergency responders working 30 hours a week, and lacked the body count to increase the staff to accommodate lost hours, the Treasury Department announced that volunteer fire departments and emergency responders won't be counted as full-time employees, and their departments will be exempt from providing coverage, Alanna Durkin reports for The Associated Press.

Mark Mazur, assistant treasury secretary for tax policy, wrote on the department's website: "The forthcoming final regulations relating to employer shared responsibility generally will not require volunteer hours of bona fide volunteer firefighters and volunteer emergency medical personnel at governmental or tax-exempt organizations to be counted when determining full-time employees (or full-time equivalents). These final regulations, which we expect to issue shortly, are intended to provide timely guidance for the volunteer emergency responder community.  We think this guidance strikes the appropriate balance in the treatment provided to traditional full-time emergency responder employees, bona fide volunteers, and to our Nation’s first responder units, many of which rely heavily on volunteers." (Read more)

UPDATE, Feb. 11: The Treasury Department has issued the regulations.