Medicare / Medicaid funding for EMS Services

[DemMedic]

I'm the Chief at a Bucks County PA 911 ambulance service, and over 50% of our clientele are on Medicare / Medicaid.

If these two payer categories away, EMS on a national level will be in danger.

Medicaid, although a state program is actually funded as much as 69% from the federal government.

As above, this is not just a Bucks County issue, it is a national problem that few people think about.

Those of you that are inclined, I ask you to please start talking about this potential issue with your local government leaders.

Thank you for reading this.

[Tickle]

1. I took one of those rides

a few years ago. They are extremely expensive and it cost me, around $500 out of pocket. I don't remember if my insurance picked any of it up.
God damn if we can't protect our elders on a fixed income, then we are all on our own and disgusting. Nobody cares 😞

[DemMedic]

2. They are expensive...

There are tons of things that go into funding these organizations that people never think about. A big driver of this is staff salaries.

Over a decade ago the national standard for training Paramedics changed drastically and a large majority of the training centers for this education went away, so this decreases the available medics in the pool, which created much more competition to get staff.

Another driver of cost is the equipment. Right now the cardiac monitors we have on our trucks are roughly 35k each, those monitors (Lifepak 15's) are coming up on their end of life date, and the updated model is around 70k per unit.

In addition to the the The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), decided that we are now required to have power lift litters on each new truck, they cost anywhere from 25k to 40k (right now anyway).

The funny thing about the NFPA is they are allowed to regulate us, but we are not firefighters, nor part of the fire service.

There are many other things that go into the cost, but these are just a few examples.

[Tickle]

3. Thanks. I understand

and I don't feel so ripped off. Now that you said it, last weekend we had to call EMS on a client. Since I was the one holding the door, I remember seeing power lifting of the bed/cot that they bring in. Which didn't work due to the age of the building,. They then got a chair that also had a power lift.
More people should know what you typed.

[LuvLoogie]

4. I think the power lift requirement might be a good thing

When you consider the cost of losing, for a while, someone due to injury from lifting, slipping. Sometimes recovery can be six months or more.

[Comrade Citizen]

5. Talked to everyone; their solution is to end public ambulance service

The county hospital district handles ambulance service in my town.
I've talked to local hospital district, county, and state officials. I've called cruz and cornyn's offices.
They all want to let the private sector take over. Of course without Medicare/Medicaid the private ambulance won't survive.

When I lived in west Texas, local ambulance services ended and a notice was sent out warning people to make plans in case of emergency, and to move closer to a hospital if necessary. Within the next 5 years all towns in Texas under 100,000 people will have no hospital because of cuts to Medicare/Medicaid/CHCs/FQHCs.