Ambulance Executives Urge Michigan Reps to Back RESCUE Act
In a Bridge Michigan opinion piece, John Robben of Global Medical Response and Joe Michna of PHI Air Medical argue that Medicare's ambulance payment system, still based on 1998 claims data, has failed to keep pace with modern EMS costs and is straining emergency response capacity across Michigan. They point to hospital closures like Sturgis Hospital's, which lengthened some ambulance runs from two miles to 25, and cite reporting that nearly 70% of Michigan counties have areas more than 25 minutes from an ambulance station. The authors call on Michigan Representatives Debbie Dingell and John James, both on the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, to cosponsor H.R. 9970, the bipartisan RESCUE Act, which would modernize Medicare ambulance reimbursement using current cost data. The bill currently awaits committee action.