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Ambulance providers ask Senate committee for larger Medicaid base-rate increase, cite rising vehicle and operational costs
Summary
The Texas Ambulance Association and providers told the Senate Finance Committee that Medicaid reimbursement and mileage rates have not kept pace with rising costs since 2009 and asked for a base-rate increase and higher mileage reimbursement to prevent service gaps.
Brett Coughlin, president of the Texas Ambulance Association, told the Senate Finance Committee that the association welcomed last session’s mileage increase but asked for an additional increase to Medicaid base rates and a larger ongoing adjustment to prevent “unreconcilable losses” that threaten ambulance service availability.
Coughlin described dramatic cost increases for new ambulances (he said recent purchases ranged from $241,000 to $360,000) and urged the committee to raise the Medicaid base-rate reimbursement by at least 40 percent to avoid erosion of ground-ambulance services. He said ambulance providers cannot refuse transport requests and carry fixed personnel and equipment costs on every call.
Ending: The association asked the Legislature to act in Article 2 funding to ensure ambulance providers can sustain operations, maintain staffing and preserve access to emergency medical transport in communities across Texas.
