Kan. Bill Would Extend Benefits to Firefighters' Families

TOPEKA, Kan. -- The families of firefighters who die in the line of duty would continue to get health insurance coverage for up to 18 months under a bill that has passed the Senate and will now be discussed by a House committee.

Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, D-Wichita, started pushing the bill after learning about Wichita Fire Capt. Urban Eck, who died from heart complications that started while he and other firefighters battled a blaze at an apartment complex in 2009.

Eck was 51 and left a wife and eight children behind. The family saw its health insurance premium skyrocket a month after Eck's death because the city no longer covered a large portion of the payment.

The Wichita Firefighters Union talked with Faust-Goudeau to introduce a bill that continues health coverage for family members, similar to those approved in several other states .

The bill approved unanimously by the Senate gives families of fallen firefighters coverage for up to 18 months after a death in the line of duty, unless the firefighter's spouse remarries or reaches age 65.

"While this bill doesn't begin to repay the debt our state owes to Captain Eck, or to any of our brave firemen and firewomen, it is my hope that we can at least provide some stability to their families during a time of need," Faust-Goudeau said in a prepared statement.

If approved, the new law could cost cities a little more money for already growing insurance costs, but the state has no estimate of how much.

Sen. Allen Schmidt, D-Hays, called it "a small price to pay for us but a huge support to those who serve us as firefighters."

He said lawmakers discussed extended coverage for up to five years but cut it back to 18 months. Only four firefighters have died in the line of duty in Kansas in about 10 years, he said.

Rocky Bumgarner, president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 135 in Wichita, said families are left with few options until life insurance money comes through or benefits come in through a federal program families can apply for after a firefighter's death.

He said he considered trying to deal with the insurance issue by advocating for a change in city law, but he said he decided to try to pass a state law to make sure families of firefighters in other areas are covered as well.

Copyright 2012 - The Wichita Eagle, Kan.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service