Sponsored by:
Assemblyman TIM EUSTACE
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman CHRIS A. BROWN
District 2 (Atlantic)
SYNOPSIS
Requires actual transportation occur as condition of billing for ambulance services.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning ambulance services and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. No person shall be charged for the provision of any ambulance service unless: (1) in addition to any other service provided the ambulance service provider actually transported the person to an emergency health care facility licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.); and (2) the transportation was medically necessary, as determined by generally accepted standards of practice for the provision of ambulance services.
As used in this section, "ambulance service" means the provision of emergency health care services, basic life support services, critical care services, mobile intensive care services, or emergency medical transportation in a vehicle that is licensed, equipped, and staffed in accordance with the requirements set forth by the Commissioner of Health.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require that actual transportation to a licensed emergency health care facility occur as a condition of charging for any ambulance service. The bill would additionally require that the transportation have been medically necessary, as may be determined by generally accepted standards of practice for the provision of ambulance services. Ambulance services include emergency health care services, mobile intensive care services, and emergency medical transportation.
Currently, when multiple ambulance service providers respond to an emergency call, the patient may be billed for ambulance services by one provider even through the patient was transported to a hospital by a different provider. This bill, which is based in part on the current Medicare rule concerning reimbursement for ambulance services, is intended to prevent this billing practice.