Governor: Find a creative way to increase Medicaid reimbursement

By JOHN HULTGREN
Kentucky EMS Connection

FRANKFORT — Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher asked Mark Birdwhistell, Secretary for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, to find a "creative way" to increase EMS' Medicaid reimbursement.

Medicaid reimbursement cuts made under the administration of former Governor Paul Patton had never been fully restored. Gov. Fletcher told the Kentucky Ambulance Providers Association that he thought EMS had been "better taken care of" when he worked to restore some of those Medicaid cuts at the start of his administration.

Four members of KAPA's legislative committee (Sherman Hockenbury, Mark Harrison, Jim Duke, and John Hultgren) met Thursday afternoon in the Governor's office at the Capital in Frankfort with the Governor, Cabinet for Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Birdwhistell, and Kentucky Homeland Security Deputy Director Jason Keller.

Gov. Fletcher and Secretary Birdwhistell both support adding money to the budget, currently being worked on in the state legislature, for a fuel supplement through Medicaid. State money would be augmented by federal money and could be returned to EMS through a mileage supplement or other method.

Secretary Birdwhistell also said he would consider tying Medicaid reimbursement to the Medicare reimbursement schedule. That way, whenever the federal government increased Medicare reimbursements, Kentucky's Medicaid reimbursements would increase automatically.

Homeland Security also committed to working closer with EMS. Deputy Director Keller said his office would seek more input from EMS, improve communication, and devote a better effort in education. One step would be providing a management session at the Kentucky EMS Conference and Expo on what state grants were available and how to apply for them. Homeland Security will also start distributing EMS-related information through the Kentucky EMS Connection.

Secretary Birdwhistell pointed out that the state receives more federal emergency preparedness money through Public Health and he is willing to look at how EMS can better benefit from those monies.

The KAPA legislative committee will discuss these and other items in mid-March when they visit Kentucky's congressional members in Washington, D.C.

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