LEGISLATURE STUFF - 10 May 2024

What the EMS What?

By Michael Ryan

CATSKILL - Befuddlement surrounds a resolution approved by the Greene County Legislature, last week, related to the rejection by State lawmakers of several bills aimed at the rescue of rescue services.

While the local resolution still needs to pass muster by the full board, it is expected to do so later this month, having moved unanimously thru a Health Services committee meeting.

The local resolution urges the New York Senate and Assembly to enact a “package of legislation to strengthen our emergency medical services.”

Calling emergency medical services a “vital resource,” the local resolution declares that action by State officials “is necessary to the health and well-being of communities across New York.”

Surprise and confusion are being expressed by county leaders that the legislation was not included in the recent passage of the State budget, believing it was basically a done deal.

“It doesn’t makes sense,” county administrator Shaun Groden said in a telephone interview, suggesting, “politics is rearing its ugly head.

“I have no explanation for why these bills got pulled” from the State budget, Groden said. “They had sponsors in both Houses.

“If there was only one bill coming out of one House I could understand, but every bill has co-sponsors in both Houses.

“And it isn’t like I’m wanting this only for Greene County. With the exception of the five big metropolitan areas, every other county has this problem, especially rural counties like ours,” Groden said.

County legislature chairman Patrick Linger was similarly stumped as to why the bills were bypassed by the big wigs in Albany.

“For some reason, they completely fell off the table,” Linger said in a phone interview. “I wasn’t hearing objections to them but they just disappeared.

“Maybe someone decided there was too much controversy about them and they didn’t want to muddy the budget more than it was,” Linger said.

The State spending plan was finalized three weeks late which isn’t unusual but is a continuing source of perplexed frustration for county officials.

“By removing these bills from the budget, hopefully it tells me there would be no State money involved so they didn’t belong there,” Linger said.

“Hopefully that is telling me they can now be moved through the legislative process. Other than that, I got nothing,” Linger said.

The local resolution has emerged from the New York State Association of Counties, exhorting State decision-makers to pass the bills within their normal legislative process prior to recessing in early June.

Ambulance services provide, “a wide range of prehospital medical care to sick or injured people in emergency situations,” the resolution states.

“The difference between a municipality that provides for EMS and one that does not can often make the difference between life and death.

“Despite its vast importance, there is an ongoing EMS crisis in this State, particularly in how it is funded, staffed, and operated.

“Much of this stems from a fundamental misconception about EMS vis-a-vis other critical services like police and fire. This is reflected in New York State law, which fails to recognize the essential nature of EMS.

“As a result, EMS providers are often undervalued and under-respected for the critical role they play in our communities.

“The EMS framework in New York includes an array of private, public or not-for-profit providers that have expanded across the state in a scattered, patchwork approach.” the resolution states,

That hodge-podge is, “leaving many New York residents uncertain whether an EMS provider will be available in their community at the time of need…

“Which is why we need to create greater flexibility for municipalities to facilitate EMS. To meet unique local challenges represents a critical next step in the provision of EMS,” the resolution states.

The proposed bills, if enacted, would do the following:

—Allow special taxing districts to be created to fund EMS services. In addition, this legislation would recognize EMS as an essential service and provide reforms to the Emergency Medical Services Council. 

—Remove EMS services from the real property tax cap, allowing local municipalities to expand and better support their local EMS services. 

—Authorize Medicaid reimbursement to EMS agencies for providing Treatment in Place (TIP) to a patient at the point of response; as well as Transportation to an Alternate Provider (TAP)

—Allow volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers to claim both State income and local property tax credits.

—Increase the volunteer firefighters' and ambulance workers’ personal income tax credit from $200 to $800 for eligible individuals and from $400 to $1,600 for eligible married joint filers.

—Create a methodology for ambulance reimbursement under Medicaid that more closely approximates the cost of providing the service. 

—Require the Thruway Authority to issue emergency services permits to EMS vehicles as is already done for fire vehicles, exempting EMS from paying tolls while transporting patients on the NYS Thruway.