H-2975.1

HOUSE BILL 2623

ByRepresentatives Engell, Bernbaum, Leavitt, Parshley, and Nance

AN ACT Relating to establishing a grant program for emergency medical transport providers in rural areas; and adding a new section to chapter 74.09 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 74.09 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Subject to amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, beginning January 1, 2027, the authority shall establish and administer the rural access to emergency medical transport grant program.

(2) The grant program established in subsection (1) of this section shall provide supplemental payments to public and private ground emergency medical transportation providers who provide services to persons enrolled in medical assistance programs under this chapter and live in frontier counties, as defined in RCW 43.160.020. The supplemental payments shall be calculated as the difference between the rate that the transportation provider received from medical assistance programs under this chapter for the transport and the medicare rate for the same service.

(3) The authority shall establish criteria for:

(a) Determining which ground emergency medical transportation providers are eligible to participate in the program;

(b) Eligible transports for reimbursement. The criteria shall require that the transports originate within a frontier county;

(c) Calculating supplemental payment rates; and

(d) Prioritizing funding when appropriated amounts are not sufficient to cover all claims. The prioritization shall emphasize payment of claims in the order of submission to the authority.

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