City of Lewiston issued the following announcement on March 18.
Governor Brad Little signed legislation this week to allow greater reimbursements from Medicaid for the ground emergency medical transports fire departments provide across the state of Idaho.
An effort that your local officials have been working on for years. Fire Chief Travis Myklebust has been a major proponent of Senate Bill No. 1283, traveling to and from Boise, Idaho frequently to testify at the Capitol all the way through.
“The first discussion of this idea started over three years ago in my office with Mayor Johnson, who was our State Senator at that time,” Chief Myklebust said. “He has played an important part in the success of this effort, and I am thrilled to see it through!”
Chief Myklebust anticipates that this will bring in additional revenue of at least $500,00 or more annually that will help offset the cost of providing emergency medical services (EMS) and not require any additional property tax funds to be collected for this service.
“This mechanism allows us to capture up to 50% of the true cost of EMS calls we go on for our Medicaid patients,” Chief Myklebust said.
Governor Little signed the legislation on Thursday, March 17th, and it went into effect immediately. The Idaho Fire Chiefs Association will be working with Idaho Medicaid to create a state plan amendment that will be sent to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for approval. Due to the approval process with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, as well as needed education for emergency personnel, and cost reporting, Chief Myklebust anticipates that it will be about two years before the City can collect those costs and see them in the budget.
“This will help provide funding to allow our department to continue providing and enhancing EMS services for our citizens,” Chief Myklebust said. “Not only does this benefit the City of Lewiston, but this will benefit all EMS services in Idaho from small volunteer-based departments to larger agencies,” Travis Myklebust.
Original source can be found here.
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