Replying to Some questions about ski patrolling...

Alright, so I'm trying to get some serious skiing in the next couple years. I also need health insurance. I've been thinking ski patrol seems like a pretty good option as far as maximum mountain time. I've got a couple questions and figured there might be a patroller or two on here.
1. Do full time patrollers get health insurance?
2. What kind of certification do I need, I know EMT is required, and am enrolled in a course starting in a couple weeks, anything beyond that?
3. I'm planning on being in the western US, utah, colorado, cali are all possibilities, do I need any kind of prerequisite avalanche training or is that something that I can learn on the job?
4. Will I even be able to get a job out west without any prior patrol experience?

Finally, this is for next season, I'm not skiing this season so any advice as far as things I can get done now in order to be better qualified would be appreciated.