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February 21, 2024

Ambulance companies speak out against proposed Medicaid budget cuts

HBJ Photo | Skyler Frazer Representatives from American Medical Response and the Association of Connecticut Ambulance Providers converged on the Legislative Office Building (LOB) on Wednesday to voice their concerns over a change to the state budget proposed by the governor.
By Skyler Frazer

A coalition of medical first responders is asking Gov. Ned Lamont and the legislature to maintain the $5 million in additional Medicaid-related funding allocated in this year’s state budget.

Representatives from American Medical Response, one of the largest ambulance companies operating in the state, and the Association of Connecticut Ambulance Providers converged on the Legislative Office Building (LOB) Wednesday to voice their concerns over a change to the state budget proposed by Lamont earlier this month.

Lamont, in his revised two-year, $26.1 billion budget, cut out a previously approved 20% increase in funding for Medicaid services administered by first responders, which equaled about $5 million in additional Medicaid reimbursements for this fiscal year.

“We are sorely lacking the funds that we need to staff our ambulances to put equipment on the road, to manage a service that the citizens of Connecticut need,” said Josh Beaulieu, vice president of the CT EMS Advisory Board. “One thing that we got out of the last session was $5 million towards Medicaid reimbursement for ambulance services, and that was a nice step in the right direction. Medicaid reimburses lower than (private commercial) insurance and Medicare does, and we need to get that on-par because a lot of our population is Medicaid.”

Ambulance and emergency medical service providers said the cut could jeopardize the industry’s ability to hire and retain staff at a time when they’re already experiencing personnel shortages.

Chris Chaplin, regional director of American Medical Response Northern CT, said first responders will continue to be in a funding “crisis” if the money is removed from the budget, a move that needs approval from the legislature. 

Bruce Baxter, CEO of New Britain Emergency Medical Services, said EMS providers typically lose between $100 to $200 each time they take care of a Medicaid patient. He called the $5 million a “Band-Aid” on the ultimate goal of getting Medicaid reimbursements to match 100% of the Medicare allowable charge payment.

“The reimbursement doesn’t even cover our cost to do the service that these patients need, deserve and currently get,” Baxter said. “In our case, where almost 50% of our transport volume is Medicaid patients, that's a loss of $1.4 million worth of revenue that we have to absorb, and that's just not sustainable in today's economy.”

State officials on Wednesday are scheduled to host a hearing on the proposed cut to Medicaid reimbursements for EMS services in the Legislative Office Building.

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