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Senate proposal would create telecom fee to fund rural EMS grant pool; committee adopts amendment and lays bill over
Summary
Senate File 16-88 would create a grant program to support rural ambulance services, including reimbursement for treatment-without-transport, funded by a proposed telecommunications fee on cell-phone bills; the committee adopted an author's amendment and laid the bill over for possible inclusion while members debated the revenue mechanism.
Senate File 16-88, presented by Senator Seaburger to the Health and Human Services Finance and Policy Committee, would establish a grant program to support rural emergency medical services, including funding for treatment-without-transport calls that currently receive no reimbursement.
The bill sets up multiple "buckets" of funding: a rural uncompensated care pool, cost-of-readiness grants for licensed ambulance services, and a section for political subdivisions to support local EMS improvements. To fund the program, the bill proposes a telecommunications fee attached to cell-phone service; discussion in committee described a potential retail charge of 80 cents per line, added to…
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