It’s no secret that emergency medical services are struggling to make ends meet. On Tuesday, the state House passed a bill to boost mileage reimbursements for patient transport.
House Bill 479, supported by Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, would ensure EMS agencies are reimbursed by Medicaid for 100% of the miles they travel with a patient on board receiving care or transport by removing the current exemption for the first 20 miles traveled.
“It really makes no sense to require an ambulance to drive 20 miles before seeing a dime of reimbursement for mileage,” Causer said. “The cost of fuel and the cost of care start as soon as that ambulance pulls away and heads to the hospital. We have a responsibility to properly pay for the services provided.”
Under the bill, EMS agencies would continue to be paid $4 per mile. Causer led the effort last year to increase the mileage reimbursement rate from $2 to $4.
“My proposal also sought to remove the exemption for the first 20 miles, so I’m pleased to see that effort advancing in the House this week,” he said.
Last month, in a full town hall session in Smethport, Causer had industry officials speak to local residents and EMS agencies about problems facing the industry, and about possible solutions.
The problems are the same all over — lack of money, lack of volunteers, insufficient reimbursements from Medicaid and insurance companies, and lack of sustainable funding for the future.
Removing the exemption for the first 20 miles traveled was one of the ideas discussed at the session.
A former EMT himself, Causer has long been a leader on EMS issues in the Commonwealth. As part of last year’s budget negotiations, he secured an increase in reimbursement rates for both Advanced Life Support (ALS) and Basic Life Support (BLS) services to $400 and $325 per trip, respectively. The change would represent a reimbursement of approximately 80% of the current base Medicare rate in Pennsylvania, plus a reflection of the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) since 2018.
It was only the second increase in the last two decades, with the last increase taking place in 2018, again based on legislation Causer introduced.
He has also supported laws to reimburse for treatment, even when transport does not take place, and for direct payment by insurance companies to ambulance service providers.
“If we expect our emergency medical services providers to respond when we call 9-1-1, we need to do our part to support them,” Causer said. “This is another small step forward, but there is more work to do to keep our EMS agencies solvent.”
The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
