Private ambulance service CEO laments Ohio Medicaid payment change

An executive for a Toledo-based private emergency medical services company warned that changes to the way Medicaid reimburses private EMS companies may threaten the industry (Source: “Ohio’s private EMS industry said to be 'teetering',” Dayton Daily News, Aug. 11, 2010).

Fred Isch, the CEO of MedCorp Inc. said that his company recently was put into receivership and he says rules changes at Medicaid are to blame. Last summer the state began a practice called “bundling,” in which Medicaid reimbursement payments for ambulance services are funneled through nursing homes. However, Isch said rules were not put into place outlining how much or when nursing homes would pass on to private ambulance services.

“There is some real concern that the private EMS system as a whole is teetering,” Isch said. “If the privates fail on a large scale, it will cascade and cause a huge public safety issue.”