Concerning professional fees for certain emergency medical service occupations (SB 6880)

Currently, physician-trained emergency medical service intermediate life support technicians and paramedics, more commonly referred to as Emergency Medical System (EMS) technicians, are required to be certified by the Department of Health (DOH); however, these technicians are exempt from paying a fee for their certification.

SB 6880 would require emergency medical personnel certified through DOH to pay a fee for certification and license renewal if they receive compensation (i.e. voluntary personnel are exempt). The fees are not explicit in the proposal; however, according to committee staff the intent of the bill is to recover the cost of the certification program which is approximately $300,000 per biennium. A fiscal note is being prepared.

The bill was introduced on March 1 and had a hearing in the Senate Ways & Means Committee on March 2. The bill was approved by the Senate Ways & Means on March 4 and is now in the Senate Rules Committee.

Reimbursing medical expenses for certain totally disabled public safety personnel (SHB 1679)

The bill was approved by the Senate on March 4 on a 46-0 vote. As noted in previous Bulletins, the bill would:

Reimburse members of the Law Enforcement Officers’ and Firefighters’ Retirement System Plan 2 and the Washington State Patrol Retirement System (WSPRS) who are totally disabled in the line of duty for any payments made for employer-provided medical insurance.
Apply prospectively to reimburse payments made after the effective date of the act.
Define totally disabled during the line of duty for WSPRS as those unable to perform any gainful activity.

In addition, the bill was amended on the Senate floor to require members of LEOFF Plan 2 who were totally disabled in the line of duty and who are eligible for Medicare to enroll in Medicare Parts A & B (rather than other coverage) in order to receive the reimbursement for medical insurance costs provide under the terms of the bill. The bill must now go back to the House for concurrence.

According to the fiscal note, the bill would have a substantial (greater than $1M) annual impact on local government expenditures for employee retirement benefits. Counties, cities and special districts with law enforcement officers or firefighters participating in the LEOFF 2 retirement plan would be affected.

The state actuary estimates a $1.1 million impact on local government in the 2010-2011 biennium and a $2.9 million impact in the 2011-2013 biennium, with a total impact through 2035 of $52.3 million.

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