07-A EMS 6 Mo. Status Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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Dr. Deborah ]antsch, chairwoman of the MAST board of trustees, said the organization already is tightening its belt. "There are business things we're doing successfully to improve the situation," she said. "But that doesn't mean it's not going to come to crunch time." The effect of the decreased Medicare payments will be cumulative in nature, Jantsch said. "It gets worse each year, until it reaches staggering proportions," she said. Without financial relief, MAST officials said they would be forced to scale back service, which could include longer response times, fewer ambulances and less training for employees. The reductions in reimbursements are part of the implementation by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, formerly known as the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), of a first-time fee schedule for ambulance services. Previously, providers received payment for "reasonable charges," which varied from community to community. In 1997, as part of the Balanced Budget Act, Congress mandated that HCFA work with the industry to come up with a national fee schedule. Providers helped determine the service levels included in the schedule, and then HCFA set the rates. When HCFA released the proposed rate plan in September 2000, providers were stunned. "The rates they were assigning to the various service levels were shocking," said Steve Haracznak, executive vice president of American Ambulance Association, a trade group based in Washington, D.C., that represents ambulance service providers. "They are really low." Haracznak said the proposed fees are so low that they won't just inflict pain but could force some providers out of business. Ambulance service providers already are lobbying federal, state and local officials for relief. Two bills that would provide some relief are circulating in Congress. 3