Why is there a Paramedic crisis in New Jersey?
The lives of our families, friends and neighbors are at risk.
Due to antiquated regulations, Paramedic providers are facing financial crisis, resulting in radically changing business methods including termination of service and direct patient billing. Some municipalities are already losing Paramedic services.
Medicare’s restrictions on reimbursement for ambulance services, combined with the declining existence of volunteer ambulance services, have resulted in the steep increase of financial burdens on Paramedics. Their ability to provide critical care to New Jersey’s residents is challenged. Under Medicare’s ‘single billing’ rule, only one emergency service entity can bill for a single event, and Paramedics are prohibited from transporting Medicare patients to the hospital.
To comply with the single billing rule, in municipalities without volunteer ambulance squads, advanced life support Paramedics have been forced to enter into contractual arrangements with paid ambulance crews. These contracts have drastically cut into the ability of the advanced life saving Paramedics to remain self-sustaining. Under current conditions, Paramedic providers are unable to make ends meet.
New Jersey is a dinosaur when it comes to addressing the problem of Medicare and Paramedics. New Jersey is the only state in the nation that mandates a two-tier EMS system, prohibits the advanced life support tier from transporting, and doesn’t provide a subsidy fund for advanced life support services. Simply put, New Jersey is the only state in the nation that has not yet adjusted its own regulations to fit Medicare’s rules in order for Paramedics to survive.
