Sen. Mark Warner and a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Washington introduced legislation last week to exempt volunteer first responders, including fire-and-rescue volunteers in Pittsylvania County, from the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance mandate.

At issue is a part of the Internal Revenue Service code that defines volunteer firefighters as “employees,” language that could be interpreted to mean volunteer firefighting and rescue agencies with 50 or more full-time volunteers— or “employees” — would be required to provide health insurance for those positions.

Many emergency response agencies do not have the resources to provide pay or benefits to volunteers, nor do most volunteer first responders expect to receive compensation or health coverage as a result of their volunteer public service, the bill’s sponsors said in a news release.

Warner, D-Va., along with five other senators— Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Pat Toomey, R-Pa., Angus King, I-Maine, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Mark Begich, D-Ark. — are sponsoring the legislation known as the Protect Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act.

A version of the bill is also being proposed in the House of Representatives.

“Properly distinguishing between full-time, paid emergency responders and volunteers is necessary if we want to protect essential emergency response agencies that keep our communities safe and protect over one-third of the U.S. population,” Warner said in a prepared statement.

The government has postponed the employer mandate — which was slated to take effect in 2014 — until 2015. Under the ACA’s requirement, employers with 50 or more full-time workers — those who work more than 30 hours per week — would have to provide them health insurance or face a penalty of up to $3,000 per employee.

There are about 750,000 volunteer firefighters in 20,000 all-volunteer and 5,000 combination career-volunteer departments across the U.S. About 48,000 volunteer firefighters serve in Virginia, according to Sen. Warner’s office, which cited the numbers from the Virginia Department of Fire Programs.

Pittsylvania County has 21 volunteer firefighting agencies — eight of which provide emergency transport and eight others that are first responders but do not provide transport. The county also has four volunteer rescue squads, said Steve Finkner, president of the Pittsylvania County Fire and Rescue Association.

Kevin Hall, spokesman for Warner, said the senator’s office heard from volunteer firefighting agencies in Virginia expressing confusion over the IRS definition treating volunteers as full-time employees.

The IRS treats them as employees for tax purposes when they’re compensated for items including training and uniforms, Hall said. There was a concern among volunteer agencies that as the employer mandate went into effect, they would continue to be seen as full-time employees under the ACA.

Groups were asking for guidance from the IRS but were getting nowhere, Hall said. They talked to Warner, who also sought answers from the agency.

“Sen. Warner was equally frustrated at the lack of responsiveness,” Hall said.

The issue is not about health policy, but about tax policy, Hall said.

“It’s about getting a balky bureaucracy to be pro-active instead of reactive,” he said.

“The problem is, depending on how the IRS views this ... , it could have ramifications for a volunteer fire department,” Hall said.

Introduction of the legislation has grabbed the attention “of the appropriate people,” including U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, who oversees the IRS, Hall said.

“It certainly warrants further investigation,” Finkner said of the IRS definition pertaining to volunteer firefighters and first responders. Finkner estimated there are about 600 fire-and-rescue volunteers in Pittsylvania County, but some could have 50 volunteers or more while others may have low numbers.

The IRS language could mean that volunteers agencies may have to calculate how many volunteers (“employees”) they have and whether they meet the definition of “full-time,” Finkner said. Also, what counts as work and determining what constitutes being “on the job” – besides answering calls - are other questions agencies would have to figure out.

Making the matter more complex, many volunteers already have health insurance through their full-time jobs, Finkner said.