The ObamaCare devastation continues. From Governing magazine comes word of what we’re in for nationwide if the ObamaCare mandate on volunteer fire departments isn’t lifted.
Nationally, volunteers account for nearly 70 percent of the 1,129,250 total firefighters in the U.S., according to the Volunteer Fire Council. About 26,000 of the 30,000 total departments are either all or mostly volunteer-based. Some fire departments are part of a municipal or county government, but many are private nonprofits. Nonprofits could be hit especially hard, but even larger governmental organizations would feel the strain, Finger said. If nothing changes, fire departments would likely limit hours for volunteers, cut positions, eliminate whatever benefits volunteers do receive or take other actions to avoid outright closure, Finger said, but his group is advising departments to hold off doing anything drastic at this point.
“I don’t think you can rule out closures at this point, but I think far more likely is that people will take steps to protect themselves either by eliminating benefits, reducing volunteers or hours, or they basically ignore this,” he said. “Then they’re just vulnerable if the IRS decided they wanted to enforce it.”
And this is just one of the many ObamaCare impacts to come.
