Health Insurance, supporting seasonal wildland firefighters

[bighead1]

Why does this not make any sense to me. If we are bleeding red ink why would this be a good idea? If temps want medical insurance either become a perm or get their own. Very rarely do temporary/ nonfull time employees receive any benefits. Infact there are some industries that do not provide any benefits that are more dangerous than this job! I don't care what the bleeding heart reason is, its just bad business to spend money we don't have. Ask Calfire how all of the spending has paid off after they get a 20% workforce reduction and furloughs. Just my opinion and I have been on both ends of this sometimes life isn't fair.

[ajohansson]

Why does this not make any sense to me. If we are bleeding red ink why would this be a good idea? If temps want medical insurance either become a perm or get their own. Very rarely do temporary/ nonfull time employees receive any benefits. Infact there are some industries that do not provide any benefits that are more dangerous than this job! I don't care what the bleeding heart reason is, its just bad business to spend money we don't have. Ask Calfire how all of the spending has paid off after they get a 20% workforce reduction and furloughs. Just my opinion and I have been on both ends of this sometimes life isn't fair.

All I can say is wow! Seasonal employees work full time hours for 6 months and deserve health benefits for providing a service to our country that is very dangerous. I paid for my own health coverage while a seasonal and it cost me about 150 a month in 1994 for a really crappy plan. How is it we can find money for a war but not provide a seasonal firefighter health benefits?

[zummy]

I have to agree with bighead. We are broke. Furloughs abound and the local unit has esentially lost its program to budget cuts. 40 cents of every dollar we spend is borrowed. If you want insurance get a perm position.

[bighead1]

Good for you for buying your own insurance. I had bought my also I have even gone without for 15 years. Jobs that was a hell of a lot more dangerous than this one and I worked year round sometimes seven days a week! They don't deserve anything. And I never mentioned the wars I was talking about the forest service being broke. And that argument is getting old anyway.

[milehighbar]

Bighead, it probably doesn't make sense because it's a very complex topic.

I support the ability of our temporary Firefighters and their families to have access to the same medical coverage our permanent Firefighters have for a few reasons. The primary reason is that for those who get sick or seriously ill and if without coverage, we are all going to pay for it regardless. A week in the hospital, a surgery, a medical condition requiring significant follow up, cancer, traffic accident with serious injuries, you name it, all of this will cost thousands or hundreds of thousands to the uninsured, potentially forcing an individual bankruptcy and/or the State picking up the cost. All of us who pay health care premiums will ultimately pay this cost for the uninsured in our monthly premiums. This is how the current system is set up.

In all the chatter about health care reform a couple years ago, the most important thing our President and more conservative thinkers have said is; “if we were starting all over, this is not how we would build a new health care system for America”. But this is what we have.

Thanks fortunately to the Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare as our President calls it), a significant amount of our temporary Firefighters might be covered on their parents plan until the age of 26.

The horror and fear one can face when they find themselves, a child or family member without insurance is something no American should ever experience. Hopefully this fact will weigh heavily on the minds of least 5 Supremes who in about 2-4 weeks will make a significant decision.

As far as the CALFIRE comment goes. I consider that a personal attack on a valued cooperator and request it’s removal.

MHB

[bighead1]

Mhb the comment about not making sense was more of a facetious one. It's not that complex. It's pretty simple for me. I went without med insurance for years with a family so I know what that's like and for the personal attack at calfire it was not its the fact don't read too much into things. I could personally care less what they get I don't work for them.

[spock76]

When you contact Cal Fire please remember to also contact one of the thousands of citizens who's home was saved by Cal Fire. One of the best wildland fire agencies on the planet would not be where it is without seasonal firefighters. Also ask a citizen of California who's loved one was saved by a seasonal firefighter. The team concept to wildland firefighting also extends to the cooperation of the agencies involved. Therefore the citizens of California should also be grateful not only to Cal Fire but the United States Forest Service (seasonals included) as well as ALL other wildland fire agencies. I for one am getting DAMN tired of public safety employees getting a big portion of the blame for the economic mess we are in. The news of JP Morgan gambling with investors money should remind us once again who is to blame for the economic meltdown. Young men and women should be encouraged to join the ranks of public safety professionals and this is usually only accomplished by first becoming a seasonal employee. Many seasonals are not young kids anymore they have families to support. As a 37 year veteran of the fire service I support our seasonal workforce and I encourage others to support them as well. I signed the petition I encourage others to sign it as well.

[CDFFF]

I too worked many years without insurance benefits. Honestly it was really no big deal. Andres stated he spent about 1800/yr for health insurance, and I bet looking back it didn't make economical sense, unless you go with the peace of mind argument. I did get an annual physical which I paid cash for which cost me roughly 75-100 bucks. Much cheaper than insurance. Even now with my insurance through Calfire, its rarely used. At most my kids utilize theirs a couple times a year. Providing insurance for all is very expensive, and most of us here are hardly using it, what you are doing is subsidizing people that use it constantly.

[stringtown]

Speak for yourself- many, many people need and use health benefits for various reasons. I understand there are some that rarely use it, but don't lump everyone into that category...and more people would use it if they had it.

Our 2 kids have a number of health issues that we would never be able to afford care for without health insurance, we can barely afford it with insurance. Both of our kids have problems with their ears, which led to speech delays; both have had to have surgery multiple times to put vent tubes in the ears. Our daughter has had a very severe speech delay that requires intensive speech therapy- which I've had to argue with the insurance company to pay for. Our son has a genetic blood disorder that causes him to be immune deficient, he requires constant care because something as simple as the right flu virus would kill him. We pay our portion of the insurance, deductibles and 15% standard co-pays on all those surgeries- it adds up pretty fast. Most of our OT money goes to paying medical bills, and USFS base pay is not even livable where we reside.

At one point, we looked at my SO staying home and me going back to work in fire, but it would have required me taking a seasonal job at first with no insurance. Considering the position with our kids, it wasn't even an option for us. We are all one accident or cancer diagnosis away from bankruptcy. Don't be so quick to assume you, or anyone else doesn't "need" health insurance or that it's a waste of money. Personally, I feel that access to affordable health care for everyone is an inalienable right. People die everyday because they have never gotten the full medical care they need without health insurance, and many of the top diseases that kill people in this country are preventable. Providing health insurance is only exorbitantly expensive in the US, other countries do it for much less and have higher life expectancies, lower infant mortality rates, and less instance of chronic disease.

I meet a lot of people out there who are shocked when they learn how little Federal firefighters make, and that a good majority of them are seasonals with absolutely NO benefits. Most of them are pretty outraged that we do not give people who risk their lives to perform a public service the care and compensation they deserve. Quite frankly, I'm a little taken back that of all people, fellow firefighters would come on a public forum and say that seasonal firefighters don't deserve health insurance. I know many former seasonal firefighters who have had lasting health effects from working in fire, but have never had any health insurance to get care for it. With the increased instance of cancer in firefighters, and the known hazards that they are exposed to on an almost daily basis, it's perplexing why we wouldn't make sure these people have access to health care.

I signed the petition, because I know it's the right thing to do.

[firedzr]

I am always amazed at how quickly we, within the fire community, get polarized on these subjects. In a knee-jerk reaction, those who side with the "have-nots" immediately point a finger at the individuals or groups they believe are the "haves". The “haves”, accustomed to the benefits they enjoy, simply instruct the “have-nots” to get a full-time position. That has the same affect as throwing gas on a fire.

Oh, and soon someone throws out the “have a right to medical care” plea as if it was merely overlooked in the writing of the Bill of Rights by our founding fathers.

Further, let’s not forget to blame the war in the Middle East. Yea, that’s the problem. All the ills of the country can be solved if only we could divert the perceived flood of money going to support our military. Or perhaps, it’s those “fat-cats” on Wall Street that are to blame. They as a group are an obvious and convenient target. And so the argument gets ratcheted up and up.

Call it cynicism or just a reality check. Giving benefits to everyone is great in concept. That is “if” we can afford it. We cannot. The correct answer to the question of “who” is to blame is “D” All of the above.

Sometimes, we allow ourselves to get diverted and we become our own worst enemy.

As a final point,,,,,does anyone really believe that the incumbent resident of the White House will do anything with this petition even if we all signed it?