14-04-2025
Oklahoma lawmakers to consider reducing ambulance reimbursement rates
Robin Robinson, director of McClain-Grady County EMS, demonstrates removing a gurney from an ambulance outside the Oklahoma Capitol on Monday. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)
OKLAHOMA CITY — A bill set to be considered Tuesday could force rural emergency service providers to shut down by reducing a needed source of funding, a leader of the state's Ambulance Association said Monday.
But a Senate lawmaker said the proposed reimbursement rate cut to Oklahoma's ambulance providers could save Oklahomans on their health insurance plan costs.
Senate Bill 1067, which is scheduled to be heard in the House Rules Committee, would authorize local government entities or ambulance service providers to submit ambulance service rates to the Oklahoma Insurance Department to create a public database. It would also cut the minimum amount that out-of-network ambulance providers can be reimbursed.
Robin Robinson, vice president of the Oklahoma Ambulance Association and director of McClain-Grady County EMS, said she was at the Oklahoma Capitol Monday to encourage lawmakers to vote 'no' on the bill.
She said it strips local control from municipalities and county governments and would limit the amount her agency collects. She said it comes just months after a state law took effect that allowed ambulance providers to charge more. Robinson said if the new bill became law, the financial difference could equate to the salary of a full time paramedic.
'With the bill that was passed last year, I was hoping that we could add another paramedic to staff full time,' she said. 'My call volume is increasing, and that's not going to change, but the money to be able to staff isn't there. And so if this bill passes, I'm not going to be able to add that full time, permanent position.'
The average salary for a paramedic in Oklahoma is $48,640, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Robinson said salaries vary around the state depending on location and demand.
Instead of letting local governments set reimbursement rates based on what's needed to keep EMS providers in business, the bill creates a 'cap all the way across the board,' Robinson said.
'If I can't staff the extra ambulances during the times that I need, we have to call in mutual aid ambulances, and that's going to be anywhere from 15, 20, 25 minutes to get there,' she said. 'This could hurt Oklahomans. You know, we have ambulance services that are further out than I am, more rural. It could hurt them worse, they may have to shut down.'
Rep. Preston Stinson, R-Edmond, the House author, was not available for comment Monday.
But Sen. Paul Rosino, R-Oklahoma City, the Senate author of the bill, said the new law, which took effect in January, could increase the cost of Oklahomans' health plans by $3 to $5 per month.
He said it does not prevent local governments from setting ambulance service rates and only affects out-of-network providers. He said the measure drops reimbursement rates by 50%, from 325% of the Medicare or Medicaid rate to 275%, to help alleviate strains on health care plan costs
'That's a massive, massive thing on the people of Oklahoma and their health plans,' he said. 'We do know that ambulance people need a bump, so we just dropped it. The insurance people didn't want it to be up more than 150%. Ambulance people, of course, want it to stay at 325% because if it stays the same, they keep getting paid. All I'm saying is, 'Hey, let's drop it 50 percentage points, and then you still get a raise and the people of Oklahoma's health plan doesn't come up.' '
He said the public database would let insurance companies know what local reimbursement rates are set at.
The bill, which has already cleared the state Senate, would be eligible to be heard on the House floor if it passes committee Tuesday.
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