A Nesquehoning fire chief is concerned that a provision in the Affordable Care Act will hurt 97 percent of Pennsylvania's fire departments.

During the Nesquehoning Borough Council meeting on Thursday, John McArdle, fire chief for the Nesquehoning Fire Department, addressed an issue that may cause the borough thousands in fines if federal legislation is not acted upon.McArdle explained that the IRS currently identifies all firefighters, whether volunteer or paid, as employees for federal tax purposes. In Nesquehoning, the three fire departments, as well as the ambulance are recognized as the emergency responders for the borough and are covered under workmen's compensation, meaning they are considered "employees" of the borough.Under the Affordable Care Act, aka ObamaCare, any employer with 50 or more employees working over 30 hours a week, which in Nesquehoning's case includes its volunteer firefighters and emergency responders, would be required to provide health coverage or pay a $2,000 per person fine."I am bringing this up because I think that it would have some impact on the (borough) budget," McArdle said, adding that it could potentially bankrupt Nesquehoning if the borough was required to pay the fines.McArdle added that Congressman Lou Barletta, as well as Pennsylvania State Fire Commissioner Ed Mann have been speaking out on the matter in the hopes of getting something done to exempt emergency responders from being required to have health coverage under the municipality they serve.Barletta has sent letters to the IRS asking for a new clarification to exempt the volunteers but has not gotten a response to date.He has also introduced the Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act, which will specifically exempt volunteer firefighters and all emergency responders from the Employer Mandate Provision in the Affordable Care Act."Without further guidance from the IRS, which could have issued a clarification immediately if it so chose, we have no choice but to pursue a legislative fix to yet another problem with ObamaCare," Barletta said recently in a press release. "Make no mistake, this wrinkle we discovered in ObamaCare would not provide health insurance to the uninsured, rather it will close down fire companies and do real damage to public safety.""It is critically important that fire and EMS agencies not be forced to offer health insurance to volunteer personnel," Philip C. Stittleburg, chairman of the National Volunteer Fire Council, stated recently. "Agencies don't have the resources to provide health benefits to their volunteers and individual volunteers have no expectation of receiving such benefits from the agencies they serve. On behalf of the National Volunteer Fire Council I'd like to thank Congressman Barletta and all of the original co-sponsors for introducing this legislation to clarify that volunteers will not be treated as employees under the health care reform law."McArdle asked council to send a letter to Barletta, as well as Congressman Pat Toomey, stating that they are in support of Barletta's proposed act.According to the 2012 National Fire Department Census, Pennsylvania is the fourth highest in the country when it comes to volunteer fire departments.If no amendment occurs, these departments, which according to Pennsylvania State Fire Commissioner Ed Mann in previous reports, are already struggling with money they need to pay for equipment, this could mean they will have to make tough choices, including the possibility of closing their doors.In related matters, McArdle also addressed the issue of one councilman telling a borough employee who is also a volunteer firefighter that come 2014, he will not be able to leave for a call during work hours."I find it hard to believe that someone would be that low and try to intimidate one person," McArdle said.He asked why the discussion wasn't brought up to him first.Councilman Don DeMarco said he was the person who said that council was going to take a look at policies for leaving for fire emergencies, but added that he didn't say that the employee, later identified as Matt Miller, would not be allowed to leave.Miller, who was also at the meeting, then addressed DeMarco."I was here six years and why all of a sudden does it matter why I leave," he asked. "I leave for the borough and for the protection of the borough. It's not like I am leaving for coffee for four years."DeMarco stressed that he was not saying Miller could not leave, but he wants to look to make a written policy with guidelines so no one can question it.Council president Frank Jacobs said there will be discussion at a later time.