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Council approves contract with Public Consulting Group to pursue EMS Medicaid reimbursements
Summary
Columbus City Council adopted Resolution R25-143 to contract with Public Consulting Group to pursue ground emergency medical transport Medicaid reimbursements; council heard questions about whether Medicaid would pay and was told the state recently approved the program and the city’s expected recovery is roughly $75,000 with a 10% fee to PCG.
The Columbus City Council on Nov. 17 adopted Resolution R25-143 to enter an agreement with Public Consulting Group LLC (PCG) to provide services related to pursuing ground emergency medical transport reimbursements from Medicaid.
During discussion, a council member asked, “Chief, is this—are they simply refiling in protest of every claim? Where's this money gonna come from... When Medicaid doesn't wanna pay it to begin with, why are they gonna wanna pay it now?”
An unidentified chief (the meeting transcript identifies the speaker by role) responded that this is a federal program that allows additional reimbursements from Medicaid, and that Nebraska recently approved the state-level participation. The chief said the city’s initial expectation from PCG’s estimate is “about 75,000” in additional reimbursements and that PCG’s fee would be 10 percent.
“This is a federal program, that allows for additional reimbursements from Medicaid to cover additional cost... When we went through with Public Consulting Group, their estimate was about 75,000 is what they're expecting, 10% fee to them,” the chief said, adding the reporting process is “extremely cumbersome” and some agencies were choosing to use a consultant during the first year to evaluate cost-effectiveness.
The chief also noted the city’s current payer mix for emergency calls includes about 10% Medicaid, and that a different payer mix would materially change any projected recovery. The council asked no further questions and adopted the resolution by voice vote.
No specific dollar award was appropriated at the meeting; the resolution authorizes contracting with PCG to begin the reimbursement work and notes the consultant’s fee structure.
