By Leila Merrill
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A bill to increase the amount of Medicaid reimbursement money EMS agencies receive passed unanimously in the state senate last week, the Daily Record reported.
SB295, looks to increase the amounts of payments by $25 each fiscal year, beginning in fiscal year 2023, until the reimbursement rate is at least $300. The current rate is $100 each time providers transport a Medicaid patient, and that rate was set in 1999.
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The bill would also make it so that the agency would be reimbursed if the patient refuses to be transported, for “mobile integrated health service” and for transportation to non-emergency facilities such as urgent care centers.
Officials with the Emergency Medical Services Systems, Frederick County Fire and Rescue Services Division, the Maryland State Firemen’s Association, and others have voiced support for the bill.
“An increase to this rate is long overdue. A lot changes in 20 years, especially costs. Prices of ambulances, supplies and other necessary tools our first responders need to provide adequate service in emergency stations has risen drastically,” Sen. Jason Gallion, R-Cecil and Harford, one of bill’s sponsors, said in February.
Five senators sponsored the bill, and it is now under consideration in the General Assembly.