A proposal to allow ambulance companies to bill insurance companies and Medicaid for providing medical care to all patients, regardless of whether they are transported to a hospital, has cleared the first hurdle toward becoming law.
The state Senate on Wednesday approved legislation intended to ensure reimbursement for emergency medical service agencies that currently go unpaid for simply rendering care at a patient’s home or the scene of an accident.
Sponsored by Sen. Don White, R-Indiana, the measure passed on a 49-0 vote. If enacted into law, the policy would help financially strapped emergency medical service providers to recover part of the actual cost of ambulance responses to calls for examination or treatment of sick or injured people.