Instead of letting local governments set reimbursement rates based on what’s needed to keep EMS providers in business, the bill creates a “cap all the way across the board,” said Robin Robinson said, McClain-Grady EMS director.
“If I can’t staff the extra ambulances during the times that I need, we have to call in mutual aid ambulances, and that’s going to be anywhere from 15, 20, 25 minutes to get there,” she said. “This could hurt Oklahomans. You know, we have ambulance services that are further out than I am, more rural. It could hurt them worse, they may have to shut down.”
Rep. Preston Stinson, REdmond, the House author, was not available for comment Monday.
But Sen. Paul Rosino, ROklahoma City, the Senate author of the bill, said the new law, which took effect in January, could increase the cost of Oklahomans’ health plans by $3 to $5 per month.
He said it does not prevent local governments from setting ambulance service rates and only affects out-of-network providers. He said the measure drops reimbursement rates by 50%, from 325% of the Medicare or Medicaid rate to 275%, to help alleviate strains on health care plan costs “That’s a massive, massive thing on the people of Oklahoma and their health plans,” he said. “We do know that ambulance people need a bump, so we just dropped it. The insurance people didn’t want it to be up more than 150%. Ambulance people, of course, want it to stay at 325% because if it stays the same, they keep getting paid.
“All I’m saying is, ‘Hey, let’s drop it 50 percentage points, and then you still get a raise and the people of Oklahoma’s health plan doesn’t come up.’ ” He said the public database would let insurance companies know what local reimbursement rates are set at.
The bill, which has already cleared the state Senate, would be eligible to be heard on the House floor if it passes committee.
( EDITOR’S NOTE: Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.)
