Insurance for deputy’s family

Dependents of El Paso County employees killed on the job, including slain sheriff’s Deputy Micah Flick, will continue receiving health insurance for up to a year at no cost, the board overseeing benefits decided unanimously Thursday.

Without the change, benefits for deceased employees’ families, such as Flick’s wife and 7year-old twin children, would have expired at month’s end.

“That was great news. It’s been a worry for us for over a week,” Sheriff Bill Elder said after the meeting.

With the deaths of three Colorado sheriff’s deputies since New Year’s Eve, public agencies across the state have grappled with the question of what benefits should be afforded to families of employees killed in the line of duty.

After Douglas County sheriff’s Deputy Zackari Parrish was fatally shot Dec. 31, officials there also changed their policy. The county chose to cover the cost of his family’s benefits for a year after learning that it otherwise would have been discontinued the next day, county spokeswoman Wendy Manitta Holmes said.

Douglas County is in the process of finalizing a similar policy for future line-of-duty employee deaths, Holmes said.

Colorado lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow the families of state employees killed on the job to keep benefits for a year after the death.