Press Releases

SEATTLE – Today, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) announced she will introduce legislation to ensure National Guard members who work in a certain status and their families retain health coverage when the member is temporarily ordered into State Active Duty to assist with a natural disaster, such as the SR 530 landslide.

“Following last year’s tragic landslide, our community was very fortunate to have the assistance of highly trained Washington National Guard members aiding in search-and-rescue and decontamination efforts. That’s why I was distraught to learn that some of these members and their families were at risk of losing healthcare coverage because of their participation in the disaster response,” DelBene said. “Congress must act to ensure health coverage is protected for the brave men and women called into duty to respond to natural disasters and state emergencies.”

Since 2010, hundreds of National Guard members have begun serving on full-time Federal Duty status as part of regional Homeland Response Force (HRF) units across the country. Given their full-time federal status, these members and their families are eligible for federal health coverage. HRF units can also be used to respond to state and local emergencies — at state expense and under control of the state’s Governor. However, for these Guard members to assist in a state emergency, they must be taken off Federal Duty status and placed temporarily into State Active Duty status, inadvertently causing a break in their health coverage.

In state emergencies, this means governors and military commanders will be forced to choose between not using HRF capabilities or disrupting health coverage for Guard members and their families. DelBene’s legislation would provide states the authority to extend health coverage for full-time federal Guard members and their families when the member is responding to a state natural disaster or emergency.

“When a disaster strikes, our state needs every resource possible to help protect lives and property,” said Major General Bret Daugherty, the state’s adjutant general and commander of the Washington National Guard. “We need to have the ability to send our highly trained men and women out the door quickly, without worrying whether they lose their healthcare. I thank Congresswoman DelBene for recognizing this problem, and proposing a common sense solution that ensures our full-time Guardsmen are able to keep their federal health care during a state response.”

The legislation is supported by Attorney General Bob Ferguson and the National Guard Association of the United States. 
 

###