By Paul Kirby
Daily Freeman, Kingston
KINGSTON, N.Y. — U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan is pushing a federal bill that would allow Medicare recipients to receive at-home emergency medical services to treat minor medical incidents.
The bill, known as the “Improving Access to Emergency Medical Services for Seniors Act,” would also ensure that paramedical and emergency responders receive proper compensation for the care rendered, Ryan’s office said. “The bill will reduce the cost of emergency healthcare for seniors on Medicare, as well as the cost of Medicare paid for by taxpayers, by implementing a “treatment-in-place model” that ends a requirement that Medicare patients be transported to emergency healthcare facilities in order for care providers to receive Medicare reimbursement, even for care that could be rendered on-site,” a release from Ryan’s office said.
Besides Ryan, the bill has the support of two Republicans and two other Democrats.
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Ryan represents the 18th Congressional District.
“Our grandparents, neighbors, and friends are safer and healthier because of the dedicated care paramedics and EMTs provide to our community,” Ryan said in a statement. “They deserve to be compensated — no matter where they administer care.”
Ryan’s office said the bill has received support from the National Rural Health Association, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Firefighters, the American Ambulance Association, the Congressional Fire Service Institute, the National Association of Towns and Townships and the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians.
Randy Strozyk, president of the American Ambulance Association, said in a statement that the bill is “laying the foundation for future Medicare reimbursement of vital ambulance services provided at the scene of a patient in need of medical care but doesn’t require a transport to a health care facility. The Improving Access to Emergency Ambulance Services Act will establish a pilot project that will demonstrate the financial and medical benefits to the Medicare program of reimbursing for treatment in place of patients by paramedics and emergency medical technicians.”
Treatment-in-place options for emergency medical care reduce costs, increase convenience, and protect seniors from potentially life-threatening infections, Ryan’s office said.
Adults aged 65 and older account for nearly 20 percent of all emergency room visits. “This population contributes to the backlog in waiting rooms, even when they might not have an issue requiring inpatient treatment,” Ryan’s office said.
Earlier this year, the state Legislature passed a bill sponsored by state Sen. Michelle Hinchey, D- -Saugerties, that requires Medicaid payments to ambulance services when transporting patients to places other than hospitals or for treatment they receive at scenes of medical emergencies.
As of now, ambulance services do not receive Medicaid reimbursements if patients are treated at emergency scenes then refuse to seek or don’t need hospital care or are brought to an alternative facility such as mental health crisis centers or substance abuse treatment centers.
The bill said that it “would authorize Medicaid reimbursement to emergency medical service agencies for providing emergency medical care to Medicaid enrollees without requiring the transportation of these patients from the location where the medical care was administered.”
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Hinchey’s legislation is awaiting the signature of Gov. Kathy Hochul, the senator’s office said Wednesday, July 17.
Hinchey represents the 41st Senate District.
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