Beckley, WV (WOAY) – Congresswoman Carol Miller toured Jan-Care Ambulance’s Beckley facilities Tuesday, leaving with the Legislator of the Year award from the American Ambulance Association. The honor recognizes her work championing legislation to strengthen rural EMS.
Miller said many of the challenges facing EMS work in West Virginia have to do with our mountains.
“If granny falls out of bed or something happens, you always call 911 and they send someone out,” she said. “Sometimes they can just treat you in place. Other times they need to take you to the hospital and they should be recompensed for the mileage of the difference in the mountains and the areas.”
Paul Seamann, director of Jan-Care Ambulance, said geography drives up the cost of every call.
“One of the things that’s unique about West Virginia is just how far away the average person is from primary health care,” he said. “Our typical calls are five or ten times further than they would be if we were in one metropolitan area.”
Seamann said Medicare reimbursement rates have not kept up with rising costs, including fuel and equipment.
“The equipment that we have now has over doubled in the cost for replacement equipment,” he said. “Those costs are almost unsustainable versus the reimbursement that we have.”
Miller’s PEAKS Act would require Medicare to factor in mountainous terrain when reimbursing Critical Access Hospitals for ambulance services.
“The PEAKS Act is the mileage to the hospital and it’s adjusted for topographical areas,” Miller said. “It makes a huge difference because it’s harder to get to our hospitals.”
Seamann said the industry is not asking for a handout.
“We are not going to Congress with our hand out saying pay us more,” he said. “We’re saying help us save the money from the other sections of the system and we will do it at the most efficient rate possible to provide the care that people need.”
The PEAKS Act has cleared the House Ways and Means Committee but still needs full congressional approval and to be signed by the President to become law.
