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North Huntingdon EMS director urges township support for state bill to boost reimbursements
Summary
Rob Leuthold, director of North Huntingdon EMS Rescue, told the board call volume is up and reimbursement rates leave a multimillion-dollar gap; he urged the township to consider a letter backing House Bill 1152 to raise payments to EMS providers.
Rob Leuthold, director of North Huntingdon EMS Rescue, told the Board of Commissioners that call volume for the service has increased and that the agency faces significant reimbursement shortfalls.
"We've responded to every 3,000 incidents already...we've been able to bill for over 2,100 calls. That represents about $2,000,000 in medical bills. The insurance company have only reimbursed us about $800,000 out of that $2,000,000," Leuthold said during public comment. He added that roughly $800,000 was written off for contractual allowances and about $400,000 remains as patient responsibility.
Leuthold described EMS as an essential public-safety infrastructure and urged the board to press state lawmakers on House Bill 1152. "Please get that pushed forward. That would help increase the rates by 350% of the Medicare rate," he said, asking the board to consider sending a letter to state representatives in support of the bill. The chair and manager agreed to consider drafting a support letter or bringing a draft to the board for approval later in the meeting.
Leuthold said the service pursues grants, donations and subscription programs to maintain operations, but warned that inadequate reimbursements complicate recruitment, retention and equipment replacement — trends he described as common across Pennsylvania rather than unique to the township.
