When you dial 911 in a health emergency, you expect an ambulance to arrive and provide aid. In fact, we depend on the EMS service to help in times of our greatest need. However, Arkansas, like many other states, do not deem EMS as an essential service.
What is an essential service?
Currently, 13 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws designating or allowing local governments to deem EMS as an essential service, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Those include Connecticut, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. At least two states, Massachusetts and New York, have pending legislation.
Current State of Arkansas Representative for District 47, Dr. Lee Johnson, called attention to the issue at a recent OSHA meeting with local fire departments. “We tried to get legislation last session, but we fell short,” stated Johnson. “EMS should be under the same umbrella as fire and police…as an essential service.”
One of the primary funding challenges is that health care reimbursements—particularly from Medicare or Medicaid—do not cover the total cost of providing EMS care. EMS billing systems and the federal government need to adapt to allow for funding parity between EMS systems and hospitals.
While EMS does an inherently different job, stabilizing and emergent medical care remains the same regardless of where it is delivered.
EMS may have begun as a transport-based industry, but modern EMS providers are much more than merely stabilizers on the way to transport. With community paramedicine programs being developed, agencies providing care approaching ICU levels in the field, and scopes of practice advancing nationwide, it is important for insurance agencies to recognize that itemized billing needs to apply to EMS services, too.
EMS is not just a ride to the hospital – it is a multi-faceted healthcare industry that intersects with public safety and brings emergency care to the patient.
With EMS providing care in an inherently imperfect environment, it is important to allow for adequate reimbursement and funding to allow EMS providers to continue to do their job and serve their communities.1
A documentary film chronicling the EMS system and shedding light on the realities of its collapse:
Honorable But Broken: EMS In Crisis | EMS Documentary Film
is garnering attention with a goal to recognize and address the issues on a state and federal level.
It simply is not enough to deem EMS as essential. EMS must be supported in the same manner in regard to recruitment and retention. As revealed in the documentary, most in the field work multiple jobs, which leaves little time at home with their families. Additionally, that there are EMS professionals who are on section 8 housing and food stamps. These are the people who are taking care of us as a society, day in and day out, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, yet somehow are not receiving the same pay and benefits that others in the healthcare field do.
“We are the end of the line…When people are dying, or they are in a time of great need, we are there,” shared Education Director at Southwest EMS Corporate and University of Arkansas EMT Instructor, Ryan Shane Rowe.
It’s past time for change, and ultimately that change falls to our elected officials. “When it boils down to it, what is the life of the person you are trying to save worth…and that is for the politicians to decide.” (Honorable But Broken: EMS In Crisis | EMS Documentary Film)
For change to take place, advocacy is needed. You can contact your elected officials by visiting Elected Officials – Arkansas.gov and encourage them to act on legislation to deem EMS an essential service.
