Laserfiche WebLink
the legislation addresses a clerical or <br />administrative error. <br />c) Requiring PERA to collect and <br />consider all employer -provided <br />information, including independent <br />medical examinations and other <br />relevant personnel data and to <br />broaden the basis for appealing <br />disability determination decisions. <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 />112 <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 <br />programs that pay for health <br />insurance for police and fire <br />employees injured in the line of <br />duty and dependents of police and <br />fire employees killed in the line of <br />duty as originally required under <br />Minn. Stat. § 299A.465. <br />b) The Legislature must avoid <br />further expansion of eligibility for <br />benefits under Minn. Stat. § <br />299A.465 unless 1) full funding for <br />benefits is provided by the state; <br />and 2) beneficiaries can be <br />enrolled in a state health insurance <br />plan such as the Public Employees <br />Insurance Program (PEIP). <br />c) Cumulative injuries that occur <br />over time in the job should not <br />qualify a police officer or <br />firefighter for benefits under <br />Minn. Stat. § 299A.465 since these <br />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 <br />the amount of an employer's <br />contribution under Minn. Stat. § <br />299A.465 is no greater than that <br />given to active employees in the <br />same job class. <br />e) The Legislature must establish the <br />minimum criteria used to <br />determine ability to work, and set <br />a percentage threshold of disability <br />for eligibility into this program. At <br />a minimum, the Legislature must <br />identify that a workers' <br />compensation determination as to <br />whether the injury is work -related <br />is necessary in order to receive the <br />