HF 3201 Summary

• Expands medical assistance coverage for ambulance services to include medically necessary transfers between hospitals to maintain capacity, with documentation requirements for hospital capacity justification.

• Increases medical assistance payment rates for ambulance services by five percent for providers located outside metropolitan counties (excluding Duluth, Mankato, Moorhead, St. Cloud, and Rochester) or within municipalities with populations under 1,000.

• Appropriates $31,500,000 in fiscal year 2022 for one-time lump sum payments of $35,000 per in-service ambulance to licensed ambulance services.

• Grants the Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board temporary authority to suspend specified EMS requirements upon recommendation by the Medical Direction Standing Advisory Committee, effective until April 1, 2022, or until the committee recommends reinstatement.

• Requires managed care and county-based purchasing plans to reimburse ambulance providers at rates equal to or greater than fee-for-service rates, subject to federal approval.