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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | June 2, 2017 02:53 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Kurt A. Masser |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Legislation - Emergency Medical Services Agency Billing |
| In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation to address a longstanding billing issue plaguing our emergency services providers in this Commonwealth. Specifically, my proposal will amend Chapter 81 of Title 35 (Health and Safety), which governs the emergency medical services system. This proposal simply requires insurers to reimburse an EMS agency that has been dispatched by a 911 or emergency dispatch center regardless of whether the EMS agency is part of the insurer’s network. When an emergency medical services agency provides emergency services to a patient covered by health insurance with which the EMS agency does not participate, the insurer sends the reimbursement directly to the patient. The EMS agency is then forced to bill the patient directly. This causes long delays for the provider in receiving payment, creating a cash flow problem. More significantly, there are many times a patient fails to forward the reimbursement to the provider causing more financial strain. Please join me in closing a loop hole in the current reimbursement practices of insurers and securing the much needed funding our EMS community needs. Please contact Cindy Abbott at 717-260-6134 or cabbott@pahousegop.com if you have any questions. |
Introduced as HB1827