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a) Broaden the criteria for participation <br />to allow employees to participate at a <br />younger age if such a change can be <br />made without damaging the tax - <br />favored status of the plan. <br />b) Remove the sunset provision to allow <br />the plan to continue past 2019. <br />c) Reduce the number of one-year <br />renewals from five to three. <br />HR-11. State Paid Police and Fire <br />Medical Insurance <br />Issue: Minn Stat. § 299A.465 requires <br />public employers to continue health <br />insurance benefits for firefighters and peace <br />officers injured in the line of duty. When the <br />law was enacted in 1997, it contained a <br />provision requiring the Department of <br />Public Safety (DPS) to reimburse employers <br />for the full amount of administering this <br />benefit. <br />By 2002, the fund created to provide this <br />benefit became deficient. Instead of <br />increasing the fund, the 2003 Legislature <br />amended the law to pro -rate reimbursements <br />to cities based on the amount available and <br />the number of eligible applicants. The 2003 <br />law change triggered a significant and <br />unanticipated cost to cities. The cost has <br />increased every year for cities, and the <br />funding for the account has never been <br />increased. Even if the health insurance <br />benefit was discontinued entirely, the costs <br />for existing recipients will substantially <br />increase well into the future due to the <br />growing cost of health insurance. <br />In 2015, the Legislature expanded the health <br />insurance benefit to include survivors of <br />volunteer firefighters who die in the line of <br />duty. This change increased the number of <br />firefighters eligible for this benefit from <br />2,000 to 20,000—without increasing <br />funding for the reimbursement account. <br />Response: The League of Minnesota <br />Cities supports the following legislative <br />actions to address the funding deficiency <br />in this program: <br />a) The state must fully fund programs <br />that pay for health insurance for <br />police and fire employees injured in <br />the line of duty and dependents of <br />police and fire employees killed in the <br />line of duty as originally required <br />under Minn. Stat. § 299A.465. <br />b) The Legislature must avoid further <br />expansion of eligibility for benefits <br />under Minn. Stat. § 299A.465 unless <br />1) full funding for benefits is provided <br />by the state; and 2) beneficiaries can <br />be enrolled in a state health insurance <br />plan such as the Public Employees <br />Insurance Program (PEIP). <br />c) Cumulative injuries that occur over <br />time in the job should not qualify a <br />police officer or firefighter for benefits <br />under Minn. Stat. § 299A.465 since <br />these types of cumulative injuries are <br />not unique to the dangers of police <br />officer and firefighter duties. <br />d) The Legislature must clarify that the <br />amount of an employer's contribution <br />under Minn. Stat. § 299A.465 is no <br />greater than that given to active <br />employees in the same job class. <br />e) The Legislature must establish the <br />minimum criteria used to determine <br />ability to work, and set a percentage <br />threshold of disability for eligibility <br />into this program. At a minimum, the <br />Legislature must identify that a <br />workers' compensation determination <br />as to whether the injury is work - <br />related is necessary in order to receive <br />the benefits under Minn. Stat. <br />§ 299A.465. <br />f) Employees who receive a police and <br />fire disability retirement benefit and <br />accept another job that offers them <br />group health benefits should be <br />League of Minnesota Cities <br />2018 City Policies Page 87 <br />