Florida SB 556: Emergency Medical Air Transportation Services

Bill Text

556 
Emergency Medical Air Transportation Services 
2017-10-18T10:30:10Z 
Creating the "Emergency Medical Air Transportation Act"; directing the Department of Health to establish the Emergency Medical Air Transportation Act Account within the Emergency Medical Services Trust Fund; providing conditions for the department to increase Florida Medicaid reimbursement payments to emergency medical air transportation services providers, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2018 
S 
2018-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2018 SB 556 

 By Senator Stewart 

 13-00758-18 2018556__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to emergency medical air 
 3 transportation services; creating s. 401.2515, F.S.; 
 4 providing a short title; providing definitions; 
 5 directing the Department of Health to establish the 
 6 Emergency Medical Air Transportation Act Account 
 7 within the Emergency Medical Services Trust Fund; 
 8 requiring the department to use the moneys in such 
 9 account for specified purposes; providing duties of 
 10 the director of the Division of Emergency Preparedness 
 11 and Community Support; providing conditions for the 
 12 department to increase Florida Medicaid reimbursement 
 13 payments to emergency medical air transportation 
 14 services providers; amending ss. 318.18 and 318.21, 
 15 F.S.; requiring an additional penalty to be imposed 
 16 for certain moving violations; providing for 
 17 distribution and use of the moneys received; providing 
 18 an effective date. 
 19 
 20 WHEREAS, emergency medical air transportation services 
 21 providers offer lifesaving transportation for the most critical 
 22 patients from motor vehicle accident scenes directly to trauma 
 23 centers, and 
 24 WHEREAS, emergency medical air transportation services 
 25 providers transport all emergency patients without knowing 
 26 whether the patient has medical insurance or the ability to pay 
 27 for the service, and 
 28 WHEREAS, emergency medical air transportation services 
 29 providers are not eligible to apply for additional federal 
 30 funding for providing services to high numbers of Medicaid, 
 31 uninsured, or underinsured patients pursuant to Florida’s 
 32 Medicaid program, and 
 33 WHEREAS, emergency medical air transportation services 
 34 providers provide coverage to multiple counties within a 100 
 35 mile radius of their bases, and often their transports originate 
 36 in a county other than the county in which the provider is 
 37 based, which makes it difficult for providers in small counties 
 38 to be locally funded, and 
 39 WHEREAS, the Florida Medicaid program reimburses emergency 
 40 medical air transportation services providers at a rate far less 
 41 than what it costs the providers to provide emergency air 
 42 transportation and does not reimburse the providers if the 
 43 patient is indigent and ineligible for Medicaid, and 
 44 WHEREAS, fines and penalties for traffic violations 
 45 discourage dangerous driving behavior and, for certain traffic 
 46 violations, a portion of the fines and penalties is used to fund 
 47 programs that provide health care and rehabilitation to victims 
 48 of dangerous drivers, and 
 49 WHEREAS, an additional penalty for each moving traffic 
 50 violation will provide support for emergency medical air 
 51 transportation services, which are the most critical services 
 52 for persons injured as a result of a motor vehicle accident, and 
 53 WHEREAS, emergency medical air transportation services play 
 54 a key role in the statewide emergency medical services system, 
 55 including disaster response and homeland security, and, 
 56 therefore, it is important for the state to support these vital 
 57 services, NOW, THEREFORE, 
 58 
 59 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 60 
 61 Section 1. Section 401.2515, Florida Statutes, is created 
 62 to read: 
 63 401.2515 Emergency medical air transportation services.— 
 64 (1) This section may be cited as the “Emergency Medical Air 
 65 Transportation Act.” 
 66 (2) As used in this section, the term: 
 67 (a) “Air mileage rate” means the per-mile reimbursement 
 68 rate paid for services rendered by rotary-wing and fixed-wing 
 69 providers. 
 70 (b) “Director” means the director of the Division of 
 71 Emergency Preparedness and Community Support. 
 72 (c) “Fixed-wing” means a type of aircraft, commonly 
 73 referred to as an airplane, which generates lift through the use 
 74 of the forward motion of the aircraft and wings that do not 
 75 revolve around a mast but are fixed in relation to the fuselage 
 76 of the aircraft. 
 77 (d) “Provider” means a provider of emergency medical air 
 78 transportation services. 
 79 (e) “Rotary-wing” means a type of aircraft, commonly 
 80 referred to as a helicopter, which generates lift through the 
 81 use of wings, known as rotor blades, which revolve around a 
 82 mast. 
 83 (3) The department shall establish the Emergenc