City of Columbia and firefighters union don’t see eye-to-eye on critical illness pool participation

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Professional Firefighters Local 1055 wants to be part of a program that aims to help firefighters with cancer treatment.

The Missouri Fire Fighters Critical Illness Pool is a program that serves as an alternative to workers' compensation for public agencies. It covers 17 different types of cancers.

Zack Privette, Local 1055 president, said the union has been negotiating with the city about this for two years now.

"Why we are not there already and weren't leading in this charge is really unacceptable to me and to our membership," Privette said.

According to the MFFCIP's website, pros for firefighters to be a part of the pool include:

• No invasive workers compensation investigations
• More claims eligible for compensation; no investigation of a cancer's cause is needed and claims will be accepted after a confirmed diagnosis of covered cancers
• Faster compensation; pay begins within 10 days of confirmation of a diagnosis

Pros for the city and fire departments include:

• Caps on losses
• More affordable rates
• Member-owned so departments have a say in operations

When ABC 17 News reached out to the city to learn why the city does not want to be a part of the pool, ABC 17 News was directed to Columbia Fire Chief Clayton Farr Jr. He said he and the city are open to negotiations.

"From a City of Columbia standpoint, we've not told the firefighters 'no,' we've told the firefighters 'not yet,'" Farr said.

He said the city offers good health benefits and puts an emphasis on prevention measures such as having state of the art equipment and gear, providing diesel capture systems and mechanisms for cleaning protective equipment.

He said the city also currently has an optional critical illness insurance option for city workers that get diagnosed with cancer as well as other illnesses.

"The fire department's perspective is we would rather focus on prevention than a fund if something bad happens," Farr said.

There are different coverage limits for the program that determine how much a municipality pays into the pool. Privette said joining with a $300,000 coverage limit would be a very small fraction of the city's budget and would potentially be cheaper and quicker than workers comp payouts.

He said it would cost the city around $25,000-$30,000 annually for membership, which he said is a very small percentage of the city's fiscal year 2024 adopted budget.

However, Farr said there are still some unknowns in regard to cost years down the road.

"There still seems to potentially be some financial uncertainty with regard to municipalities in terms of a cap on how much this pool will cost moving forward," Farr said.

Right now, there are no discussions currently scheduled about the critical illness pool.

Privette said the union requested to go into mediation with the city about this in August. But Farr said the union has since requested a pause on mediation.

However, Privette said that is not true. He said the union requested to pause mediation on other issues, but there has been no mediation scheduled for the critical illness pool issue.

"We're willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that we're covering our guys, and if that ends in a courtroom, then we're ready to go," Privette said.

Meanwhile, Jefferson City is one of 83 MFFCIP members across the state.

The Jefferson City Council passed a resolution in May to authorize JCFD's participation. According tothat resolution, Jefferson City has entered into the pool at a coverage limit of $300,000.

The cost is $786 per month in 2023, according to the resolution, and will increase to $907 per month starting Jan. 1. The document said the total anticipated cost for fiscal year 2024 is $10,647.

Privette said seeing Jefferson City and more than 80 other organizations become members of the MFFCIP speaks to the value the city is placing on Columbia's firefighters.

However, Farr said firefighter safety is always the top priority.

"Their safety is my number one priority. It is what drives me every day at work," Farr said. "There are times when decisions have to be made and/or decisions are delayed, which may give people reason to pause or reason to doubt. And I want to rest assured for our staff and our community that our firefighters are my number one priority."

Statwide, the MFFCIP includes 2,644 firefighters.