Senate hearing exposes deep divides over HB 316 ambulance reimbursement plan

House Bill 316, which proposes a uniform commercial insurance reimbursement schedule and a prohibition on balance billing for ground ambulance services, drew heavy opposition from ambulance providers, municipal officials and local chiefs at an April 16 hearing of the New Hampshire Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

The bill's sponsor in the House, Representative John Hunt (absent at the hearing), asked the Insurance Department's work product and the House Commerce Committee's solution be considered in the Senate. Senator Jeb Avard (R-District 12) introduced the bill for Representative Hunt, summarizing its main elements as a default rate schedule, a prohibition on provider balance bills and a two-year review mechanism.

Why it matters: EMS officials and local elected leaders said the proposed default commercial rate'set at 202 percent of Medicare in the department's study'would not cover operating costs and could force more providers out of business, shifting costs to towns and counties that already subsidize local ambulance services.

Providers and local officials gave…