(a) As used in this section, “first responder” means paid, full-time law enforcement officers and firefighters who are employed by the state or a local government in this state. “First responder” also includes capitol police officers and employees of the Tennessee highway patrol, Tennessee bureau of investigation, and Tennessee wildlife resource agency.
(b) The state insurance committee may, in approving a health insurance plan that covers first responders, offer or continue to provide health insurance benefits to the surviving spouse and children, including any unborn child, of a first responder killed in the line of duty for a period not to exceed two (2) years after the death of the first responder.