EMS service providers say there has been a crisis for many years

NORTH DAKOTA/MINNESOTA (KVRR) — “We’ve been sounding the alarm for quite a while. We’ve been talking about EMS in crisis. Not only is it the expenses going up, but it’s the revenue coming down. The reimbursements from Medicare haven’t moved, and Medicaid hasn’t moved to keep up with the costs,” said Ken Krupich, General Manager for Ringdahl EMS.

Ringdahl EMS runs services for parts of North Dakota and Minnesota. Krupich said there have been many conversations about the crisis for the last 15 years with state legislators and local governments. But there has yet to be a solution.

“We’re losing money every time we walk out the door for a Medicare patient. So Medicare reimbursements have to come up, Medicaid has to come up,” said Krupich.

A survey conducted by the PWW Advisory Group says that on average, $1,584 is spent just for transferring patients. In Minnesota, the state has provided additional funding to supplement the losses. But the costs to travel, maintaining the equipment, the vehicle, and support is still not meeting their needs.

“It costs a lot of money to maintain the vehicles and to properly incentivise our personnel to care for patients in what’s often their worst day. And these are tough situations,” said Dr. Christopher Anderson, Essentia Health.

“Our hope is that we are able to buy time long enough for people to recognize that this is a crisis and it can’t continue the way it is. So we have to look at those subsidies and other revenues to keep it going,” said Krupich.

Both ambulance services are working to continue to stay in operation.