Category: All Posts
What being “essential” means
Author: Tim Nowak Being essential is not a golden ticket. It’s also not a silver bullet. At best, it’s an unfunded mandate, but that’s the start that many EMS agencies need in order to begin getting the recognition and funding they deserve. Being classified as an “essential service” through …
Congress Delays MedPAC Ambulance Report Timeline
Last month, the United States Senate passed a provision that would delay the due date of the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee report analyzing ambulance cost data. This delay was necessary due to CMS postponing the beginning of ambulance cost data collection because of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent issuing of …
Grant Opportunities
PCG understands that departments are in need of additional funding to support operations. We have also bared witness to the hundreds of thousands of dollars that go unclaimed each year in grant opportunities. What is the disconnect? What are the hardships in applying for grants? That is what PCG would …
PCG’s Webinar “For Comparison’s Sake” In Review
PCG’s Public Safety Consulting Service (PSCS) team presented the webinar “For Comparison’s Sake!”, which takes a case example approach toward identifying data metrics, operational factors, financial impacts, and policy elements that could all be utilized as relative comparable points from within – and outside of – fire and EMS departments …
Federal Behavioral Health Plan Released
Originally Posted on PCG’s Health Policy News on March 30, 2022. Author: Lisa Kaplan Howe This month, the Biden administration released a plan for tackling the nationwide behavioral health crisis. Challenges related to behavioral health are not new, but have only worsened during the now two-year COVID-19 pandemic. According …
The American Medical Association Releases a Report Urging Healthcare Stakeholders to Enhance Behavioral Health Integration Through Digital Tools
Originally Posted on PCG’s Health Policy News on March 30, 2022. Author: Raneem Rayes The American Medical Association (AMA) released a report defining opportunities to incorporate technology to advance behavioral health integration (BHI) and outlining a framework to measure BHI models. This report, which was informed by a diverse working group, …
Is Your Department Ready for a Medicaid Audit?
Many of PCG’s ambulance clients across the country are familiar with state Medicaid agency desk reviews. These pre-payment reviews help identify reporting errors that could result in overpayment of supplemental Medicaid revenues to providers. Recently, supplemental payment programs in several states have implemented more in-depth audits, generally post-payment, that require …
Safety Stand Down 2022
The International Association of Fire Chiefs’ Safety, Health and Survival Section, the National Volunteer Fire Council, and the National Fire Protection Association have announced the theme for the 2022 Safety Stand Down is Situational Awareness: The Foundation for Good Decision-Making. The week will be broken down into five daily focus …
The Federal Administration Issues More Guidance on the No Surprises Act
Originally Posted on PCG’s Health Policy News on October 29th, 2021. Author: Lisa Kaplan Howe Implementation of the No Surprises Act (NSA) continued this fall with the release of a second interim final rule (IFR) on September 30, 2021. The NSA—which was signed into law as part of an appropriations package at the …
Ground Ambulance Providers are Officially on the CMS Clock to Start Collecting Data
Authors: Rachel Ray and Sarah DiCicco A Brief History of Medicare In 1965, Medicare was signed into law under President Lyndon B. Johnson. In 1966, Medicare was officially implemented and around nineteen million individuals enrolled in the program during that first year. In the 1970s, Medicare eligibility was expanded …