February 27, 2003





HOUSE BILL No. 1240

_____


DIGEST OF HB 1240 (Updated February 25, 2003 9:36 PM - DI 108)



Citations Affected: IC 36-8.

Synopsis: Insurance for volunteer EMTs. Requires a county, municipality, or township that uses an ambulance service department or association to purchase a policy of insurance to cover each volunteer emergency medical technician (EMT) who is a member of the department or association.

Effective: January 1, 2004.





Young D, Stevenson , Stutzman




    January 13, 2003, read first time and referred to Committee on Local Government.
    February 26, 2003, reported _ Do Pass. Recommitted to Committee on Ways and Means.






February 27, 2003

First Regular Session 113th General Assembly (2003)


PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type, additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in this style type.
Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the word NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts between statutes enacted by the 2002 Regular or Special Session of the General Assembly.

HOUSE BILL No. 1240



    A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning labor and industrial safety.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:

SOURCE: IC 36-8-14.5; (03)HB1240.1.1. -->     SECTION 1. IC 36-8-14.5 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE AS A NEW CHAPTER TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2004]:
     Chapter 14.5. Volunteer Emergency Medical Technicians
    Sec. 1.    This chapter applies to all units.
    Sec. 2. As used in this chapter, "member" means a person:
        (1) who, as a result of a written application, has been elected or appointed to membership with a provider;
        (2) who performs, without compensation or with only nominal compensation, the work related duties assigned and orders given to the person by the chief executive officer of the provider, including orders or duties involving education and training as prescribed by the provider or the state; and
        (3) whose name has been entered on a roster of volunteer emergency medical technicians that is kept by the provider and that has been approved by the proper officers of the provider.
    Sec. 3. As used in this chapter, "nominal compensation" means annual compensation of not more than three thousand five hundred dollars ($3,500).
    Sec. 4. As used in this chapter, "provider" means a volunteer ambulance company that has as a member an emergency medical technician or other person working in a volunteer capacity.
    Sec. 5. As used in this chapter, "volunteer ambulance company" means a department or an association:
        (1) that is:
            (A) organized as a nonprofit corporation or an unincorporated association; or
            (B) created by a governmental unit;

        to provide emergency medical services, including transportation of ill or injured persons; and
        (2) in which the majority of members of the department or association:
            (A) do not receive compensation; or
            (B) receive only nominal compensation for their services.
    Sec. 6. (a) Each unit that has a provider shall procure insurance in the name of and for the benefit of each member. However, if a contract or an agreement exists between a unit and a provider, the contract or agreement must provide for insurance of the provider's members in the amounts and with the coverages required by this chapter.
    (b) Unless the contract or agreement stipulates otherwise, all insurance coverage must be under a group plan, rather than in the name of each individual member. Either the unit or the provider, according to the contract or agreement, may undertake procurement of required insurance. In either case, the costs of coverage must be borne by the unit. If a provider serves more than one (1) unit under a contract or an agreement, each unit that the provider serves shall pay the amount for the insurance coverage determined under the following formula:
        STEP ONE: For each census block or other area in a unit that is served by more than one (1) provider, divide the population of the area by the number of providers serving the area and round the quotient to the nearest one-thousandth (0.001).
        STEP TWO: Add the quotients determined under STEP ONE for the unit.
        STEP THREE: Determine the sum of the STEP TWO amounts for all the units served by the same provider.
        STEP FOUR: Divide the STEP TWO amount for a unit by the

STEP THREE amount and round the quotient to the nearest one-thousandth (0.001).
        STEP FIVE: Multiply the costs of the insurance coverage for the provider by the quotient determined under STEP FOUR, rounded to the nearest dollar.
    (c) A diminution of insurance benefits may not occur under this section because of a change in the insurance carrier or a change as to who actually procures the required insurance.
    (d) Each unit that has a provider may procure an insurance policy for the benefit of auxiliary groups whose members could be injured while assisting the members in the performance of their duties.
    Sec. 7. (a) Each unit that has a provider may procure an insurance policy or any other type of instrument that provides retirement benefits as an incentive to members for continued service.
    (b) An insurance policy or other instrument containing any of the provisions authorized by subsection (a) may not be considered in the computation of nominal compensation for purposes of this chapter.
    (c) A member who becomes covered by an insurance policy or other instrument containing any of the provisions authorized by subsection (a) does not thereby become eligible for membership in the public employees' retirement fund under IC 5-10.3.
    Sec. 8. If a unit fails to provide the insurance for a member that this chapter requires and a member suffers a loss of the type that the insurance would have covered, the unit shall pay to that member the same amount of money that the insurance would have paid to the member.
    Sec. 9. Each policy of insurance must provide for payment to a member working for a provider for accidental injury caused by or occurring in the course of the performance of the duties of a member as follows:
        (1) For total disability that prevents the member from pursuing the member's usual vocation, the policy shall provide a weekly indemnity of at least two hundred fifty dollars ($250), up to a maximum of two hundred sixty (260) weeks.
        (2) For medical expenses, coverage for incurred expenses. However, the policy may not have medical expense limits of less than seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000).
    Sec. 10. (a) The policy of insurance required by section 6 of this

chapter must provide for the payment of at least one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) to the beneficiary, beneficiaries, or estate of a member if the member dies from an injury while in the performance of the member's duties as a volunteer emergency medical technician or from a cardiac disease event proximately caused within forty-eight (48) hours by or occurring while in the performance of the member's duties as a volunteer emergency medical technician.
    (b) The policy of insurance must provide for the payment of at least one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) to the member if the member becomes totally and permanently disabled for a continuous period of at least two hundred sixty (260) weeks as a result of an injury occurring in the performance of the member's duties as a volunteer emergency medical technician. An amount paid to a member under section 9(1) of this chapter is a credit against any benefits payable under this subsection.
    (c) The policy of insurance must also provide for indemnification to a provider of a member who becomes partially and permanently disabled or impaired as a result of an injury occurring in the performance of the member's duties.
    (d) For purposes of this section, partial and permanent disability or impairment shall be indemnified as a percentage factor of a whole person.
    Sec. 11. All expenses incurred for premiums of the insurance required by this chapter shall be paid out of the general fund of the unit in the same manner as other expenses in the unit are paid.