EMS providers seek reimbursements from state

What's happening: Upper Peninsula EMS providers are pushing the Michigan Legislature to reimburse nearly $600,000 in unpaid health care bills stemming from services provided to prisoners. According to the Michigan Association of Ambulance Services, the Michigan Department of Corrections’ previous health care provider Wellpath failed to compensate the responding EMS agencies for services in 2023 and 2024. Under state law, EMS agencies must respond to 9-1-1 calls, including those from Michigan's prisons. 

The impact: The lack of payment forces smaller EMS providers serving rural communities to make tough decisions on how to cover costs for personnel, operations and resources needed to serve their areas. Ambulance services in Baraga County are cutting additional supplies, delaying planned infrastructure upgrades and limiting part-time EMS personnel who are crucial to serving the entire public. In Chippewa County, one less ambulance is on the road serving necessary transportation of patients transferring to more advanced emergency units or to respond to calls effectively in life-saving issues. It has also impacted the ability of various departments to continue mutual aid agreements at the county and municipal levels.

What they're saying: “The lack of payment for our work in Michigan’s prisons has led to a reduction in our schedule, leaving one less ambulance on the road to respond to emergencies or to provide hospital transfers for our patients,” said Kinross EMS Director Renee Gray. “Unfortunately, this issue has also kept us from upgrading to new EMS equipment or incur debt in doing so, which doesn’t help us serve our communities.”

What's next:  All four state representatives and both state senators with districts in the Upper Peninsula have already been working on changing various laws to help with hiring practices, transparency policies and employee benefits packages to help address the longstanding issues with staffing. However, there is no additional funding to help with this payment shortage in the Michigan state budget, which started a new fiscal year on October 1.