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EMS leaders urge Kansas to pilot payment for community paramedicine to cut ER and ambulance costs
Summary
Fire and EMS leaders described community paramedicine pilots that treat patients at home, link them to services and reduce emergency transports; they asked the committee to consider reimbursement pilots that would let EMS be paid when care is delivered without transport.
Chiefs and EMS directors from Kansas told the committee that community paramedicine — in which EMS personnel treat, triage or navigate patients in place — can reduce unnecessary emergency transport and emergency department use while keeping ambulances available for high-acuity calls.
Mark Heath, KCK Fire chief and MARC EMS co-chair, and representatives from rural crews described programs that identify "high utilizers" and send community paramedics or specially trained medics to address root causes: medication reconciliation, home safety hazards, food insecurity, or liaison with primary care. Heath said Kansas City pilots have yielded measurable reductions in repeat 911 calls and that Missouri agencies and some Kansas counties have offset program costs partly through insurer and MCO partnerships.
Con Olsen, a rural ambulance director, and Mark Heath asked the committee to consider a Medicaid reimbursement path for treatment-in-place services and alternative destination transports. Currently, Medicare and many commercial insurers predominantly reimburse ambulance transport to an ED; treating a patient at home generally produces no transport claim even when EMS provides interventions. Speakers said some insurer pilots and a pre‑COVID Medicare pilot showed positive fiscal impacts; they recommended a Kansas pilot that pays EMS for verified on‑site care to reduce downstream hospitalization costs.
KDHE and KDADS officials said they are tracking pilots and technical models and suggested the committee consider a narrowly scoped pilot and data collection to quantify savings and patient outcomes. Lawmakers asked for draft pilot parameters and cost estimates.
Ending: EMS leaders and committee members agreed to pursue a targeted pilot framework and metrics that can be tested between MCOs, Medicaid and EMS providers.
