AAC
RESEARCH CORNER
Ambulance Services: Vital for public health but neglected
A
mbulance services are absolutely vital. We depend on ambulance services for our own lives and the lives of our loved ones. This was true before the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s no less true in a post Covid-19 world. Yet, in the past ambulance services have been systematically disregarded by our state and federal governments. Neglect of Ambulance Services: Flat-line Medicaid Reimbursement Rates On Feb. 19, 2020, the Senate and House Public Health Committees and the Senate and House Insurance and Commerce met jointly. Attendees were truly aghast about what was discovered during that joint meeting. Every Arkansan should be equally shocked. The Medicaid reimbursement rates for advance life support (ALS) ambulance care services in Arkansas have been flat for over 25 years. ALS refers to an ambulance with a paramedic and emergency medical technician on board. Currently, every county in Arkansas has an ALS ambulance. However, that soon will no longer be the situation in Arkansas. Below is a snapshot of the funding in Arkansas over the past 26 years for ALS ambulance services and the allowable reimbursement rates under Medicaid and Medicare.
Citizens and taxpayers should be alarmed about the disregard for the funding of ambulance services in Arkansas. This systematic disregard has placed ALS ambuMark Whitmore lance services in many counties in AAC Chief Counsel Arkansas in jeopardy. Our class 1 and class 2 counties with populations below 10,000 and 20,000, respectively, are in the most precarious positions. Rural areas of Arkansas often lack the population and number of runs under these stagnant Medicaid reimbursement rates to keep ambulance services solvent. Jamie Pafford-Gresham is president/chief executive officer of Pafford Emergency Medical Services (EMS), one of the oldest and largest privately-owned EMS systems in the region. She also serves as government affairs chairperson for the industry, American Ambulance Association. She explains the situation as follows: “Historically, many counties in Arkansas contracted with private providers as not to have the financial burden and expertise required to properly staff an ambulance service 24/7/365 days a year. In a majority of cases this was done with little to no sub-
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