By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
LITTLE VALLEY — Cattaraugus County lawmakers unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday asking Gov. Kathy Hochul to reconsider a provision in her executive budget that would cut Medicaid funding to county ambulance services.
Legislature Vice Chairman Ginger Schroder, R-Farmersville, and fellow District 2 legislators Joseph Boberg and Brenda Hansen, both of Delevan, are sponsors of the resolution.
The county’s Office of Emergency Services has been alerting local fire companies who operate ambulances to lobby against the governor’s proposal.
The state Office of Management and Budget says the proposal to end Medicaid payments to ambulance services who are dual billing Medicare and Medicaid for transport older low-income residents to the hospital.
Schroder, who is an EMT with the Franklinville Fire Department’s ambulance, said Medicaid currently pays a portion of a Medicare ambulance transport. Medicare might pay only $600 of an ambulance bill that might cost private pay insurance $2,000. Then, Medicare might only pay 80% of that amount.
Without Medicaid helping to pay for the transport of elderly low-income residents, the ambulance services will face financial hardship, Schroder said. Some may not survive.
The state is looking to save $18.6 million over the next year by ending the Medicaid payments in the case of dual billing for ambulance service. Local ambulance services across the state will lose more than $20 million a year.
The Medicare payment schedules haven’t been increased in years, Schroder said. Meanwhile, the costs for local ambulance services have continued to climb. The cost of living has gone up 18% since the last time the ambulance companies got a raise from Medicare, she added.
“This is going to hit hard,” Schroder said. “It’s pretty horrific, because when you look around New York State, generally, in upstate New York, you know, we have such a problem right now recruiting volunteer EMTs and firefighters. We really rely on the paid services to be able to care for our residents.”
Some ambulance services are fully volunteer, some are paid and some are a hybrid of the two. Franklinville, for example, contracts with a private service for 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, Schroder said. The rest of the time the service is manned by volunteers. Besides Franklinville, the service covers the towns of Farmersville and Lyndon under contract.
Schroder said in some areas of the county “we’re having trouble making calls.” County Emergency Services is working with fire companies on the issue, she added.
