President Barack Obama will make federal health insurance available to about 8,000 temporary wildland firefighters, a White House official said recently.
Despite the grueling and dangerous work they do, the 8,000 firefighters aren’t covered by federal health insurance because they are temporary seasonal employees. Under federal personnel rules, such employees can’t buy into federal health insurance plans.
The White House official said firefighters will get access to federal insurance plans this month. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Obama’s decision hasn’t been formally announced.
Temporary seasonal firefighters make up more than half of the 15,000 wildland firefighters on the federal payroll this busy wildfire season. Firefighters are covered by workers compensation if they’re hurt on the job, but that doesn’t cover offseason health problems or help their families.
From NPR.org: https://www.npr.org/2012/07/10/156584532/seasonal-firefighers-given-federal-health-benefits?sc=tw&cc=share