ST. PAUL, Minn. — A bipartisan legislative task force looking at solutions to problems facing emergency medical services agrees that there are funding gaps for providing that care, but hasn’t found a consensus on how to pay for it.
The panel met Friday to discuss feedback from multiple meetings across the state with local communities and EMS leaders. The key issues that endanger the industry’s very existence, advocates say, are related to recruitment and retention of workers and low reimbursement rates.
“This isn’t a matter of if we fix this – it’s a matter of must,” said Rep. Natalie Zelezniker, R-Fredenberg Township.
EMS providers can only charge insurance when a person is actually transported by ambulance, even if one shows up to a person’s home to respond to a 911 call. Medicaid and Medicare also have non-billable services, resulting in financial losses, according to the Minnesota Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board.