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Wednesday, May 16, 2012
AB678 moves ahead, federal funds for fire dept more likely
by Melissa Corker, published on June 23, 2011 at 6:28 PM
Storyline: Politics
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The State Senate Health Committee unanimously passed Assembly Bill 678 (AB678) Wednesday, bringing the possibility of millions of federal dollars for California fire departments closer to reality.
Currently, fire departments that provide ambulance transportation for Medi-Cal patients are not reimbursed for the cost of the service from the federal Medicare program. These costs are instead absorbed into the fire departments’ general fund.
AB678 would allow fire departments to tap into a federal program that provides a 50 percent match of those unreimbursed expenses, bringing in much-needed revenue in an economy that has forced fire department brownouts and reduced services.
“First responders are bound by law and by duty to answer every call,” said the bill’s author, Assemblyman Richard Pan (D-Natomas). “Currently, they are paid less than cost by Medi-Cal for care to patients they cover.”
Medi-Cal transports in the state went up 19 percent between 2006 and 2009, Pan said. In some fire departments, Medi-Cal transports can be up to one-third of their total service.
Pan said the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District and California Professional Firefighters have worked together to identify the federal funding, which could total $90 million in the first year, and $50 million in each subsequent year for fire departments throughout the state.
“The (federal fund-matching) program doesn’t cover the full cost of the service,” Pan said, “but it draws down the cost, and every bit helps.”
At the June 7 Sacramento City Council meeting, council members decided that any funds collected through AB678 for Sacramento would be reinvested in the Fire Department.
The additional funds would be used to reinstate fire stations that have been put on brownouts, and/or to add staff for advanced life support medic units.
Each fire department is responsible for submitting its own reimbursement requests, so the amount of federal funds directed to individual departments will depend on the cost of services each one provides.
Pan said the bill has “tremendous bipartisan support,” and he is “cautiously optimistic” that the bill will soon become law.
AB678 will move to the Senate Appropriations Committee and then to the Senate floor for a vote before it is sent to the governor. The date for the hearing in appropriations has not yet been scheduled.
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There's got to be a more efficient way to handle this other than just getting the feds to pay for more of it.
Ideas, anyone?
Is there any way for the dept to know in advance what they are going to come upon when they arrive at the scene? On the one hand, knowing that they are only going to pick up a single indigent with heart palpitations may be reason to send just two responders, whereas knowing that they are coming to a 3-story Victorian apartment house, fully ablaze, with two families trapped inside may necessitate a greater response.
If policy is as Mr. Powell says, and there is no 'as-needed' flexibility i dispatch, then a closer look at policy may be in order.
However, the need for efficiency must be balanced with quality and, when it comes to emergency response, striking that balance may not be as easy as it looks from this side of the siren.