Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Ems Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee approves RFP after EMS providers warn of millions in unpaid costs and structural shortfalls
Summary
EMS providers told the Emergency Response Services Committee that reimbursement shortfalls and unpaid patient bills are creating structural deficits; the panel authorized an RFP to study operational needs and funding options and asked staff to include delinquent billing and uncompensated care models.
Ambulance services told the Emergency Response Services Committee that shortfalls in reimbursement and rising bad-debt write-offs threaten operations and force local taxpayers to cover gaps.
Corey Johnson of the North Dakota EMS Association described recent cost and bad-debt data: Lake Region Ambulance carried $433,466 in bad debt for 2024 billable transports, and the Williston service wrote off about $141,919 in uncollected debt. Johnson cited newly available federal Medicare collection data showing a mean cost per ground ambulance transport of roughly $3,172 for governmental ambulance services and an estimated $2,852 for low-volume rural agencies. "When you compare that $3,172 cost against the average reimbursement of roughly $11.47 from all insurance types, we are left with a structural deficit," Johnson said.
Department of Health staff earlier had reported other stressors: non-transport responses average 59 minutes, and rural 9-1-1 response times were substantially longer than in urban areas. Committee members pressed for solutions that address both delinquent billing and the operational losses from non-billable responses such as canceled calls or lift assists.
Witnesses pointed to Minnesota's recently enacted uncompensated-care pool as a model that creates a state-administered reimbursement pool for ambulance services that report eligible uncompensated calls. Committee members also heard a Legislative Council memo describing a proposed $25,000 study (LC 27.9029.01000) to analyze grant funding, eligible recipients, and administrative options for emergency services and public safety funding.
At the meeting the committee voted to instruct Legislative Council to issue a draft request-for-proposals (RFP) for consulting services (up to $25,000) to analyze fire and EMS operational needs and funding approaches, allowing proposers to price the RFP's six draft tasks as line-item options. The motion passed by roll call. Staff will return with proposals and cost estimates before the legislature considers funding options.
