EMS reimbursement bill could help ambulance services stay afloat
Emergency medical service providers and ambulance services have found themselves hit hard by inflation and staffing challenges since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A new bill being considered in the Pennsylvania House could improve their prospects, EMS officials say.
The bill, House Bill 2434, would raise the rates at which EMS services are paid by the government from Medicaid insurance. Sponsored by Rep. Martin T. Causer, R-67th, if the bill passes, reimbursement rates would be raised from $180 per trip to $325 for basic life support, and from $300 per trip to $400 for advanced life support.
The low rate of reimbursement is one of the biggest issues facing EMS providers today, said Karns City Regional Ambulance Service president Mark Lauer.
“Everybody says there’s a crisis coming, but we’re all in a crisis. EMS, as a whole, is in a crisis,” he said. “We don’t have enough EMTs, we don’t have enough paramedics, and the people are leaving because they aren’t making (enough) wages. The reimbursement is what controls everything. Without higher reimbursements, everything has gone up cost-wise. And it’s not just in the last year — over the last 20 years, things have just gotten more and more (costly), and the reimbursements haven’t followed.”
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