BARNESVILLE, Minn. — Rural emergency medical service providers across the nation, and in our area, are facing significant challenges and the possibility of having to shut down. On Tuesday, Feb. 20, stakeholders from Barnesville, Perham, and Henning were brought together by Senator Tina Smith’s office to discuss potential solutions. A major problem for rural EMS departments is reimbursement for calls involving Medicare patients. Unless the patients are transported to a hospital, the departments likely aren’t going to be paid for it. “We need reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid to keep up. If that happens, it’s a whole different story for EMS. We can start looking more at innovation and quality and things rather than just worrying about the bottom line all the time,” said Perham Area EMS Director Becca Huebsch. Senator Tina Smith recently signed onto the EMS ROCS Act, which looks to address this by providing Medicare reimbursement for calls where transportation isn’t needed. But the issues rural EMS departments are facing run deeper. More as this story develops…