Bill Would Extend Health Insurance Benefits to Families of Fallen Municipal Police Officers

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania House has unanimously supported legislation that would extend health insurance coverage to the surviving spouses and dependent children of municipal police officers who die in the line of duty.

House Bill 911 would provide lifetime health insurance coverage for a surviving spouse and coverage for children until age 26. The proposal is intended to bring benefits for municipal police officers’ families in line with those already available to families of Pennsylvania State Police officers who die in the line of duty. The bill is now pending consideration by the state Senate.

Separately, state Rep. Thomas Mehaffie is preparing legislation that would address health benefits for the families of municipal police officers who die or are disabled in the line of duty.

Under Mehaffie’s proposal, surviving spouses of full-time municipal police officers who die while on duty would receive health benefits for life, while eligible dependent children would be covered until age 26, provided they are not covered by another eligible employer-sponsored health plan.

Advertisement

The proposal would also provide lifetime health benefits for full-time officers disabled by an accident while on duty and their spouses, with eligible dependent children covered until age 26 under the same condition. It would also address continuation of benefits during investigations into line-of-duty deaths and require municipalities to help surviving spouses navigate claims and payments.

Mehaffie’s proposal is described in a co-sponsorship memorandum and has not yet been introduced. The memo defines the municipalities covered as boroughs, third-class cities, and first- and second-class townships.