The House Veterans Affairs and Public Safety Committee passed House Bill 1251 on Thursday. The bill recognizes emergency medical services such as ambulance transportation to be an essential service in Indiana.
The bill would require each county commissioner to identify areas in their county that are unserved by emergency ambulances and then provide them to those areas by creating a county-run service. This could be through public, private or nonprofit providers of emergency ambulance services or other available options.
In support of this bill, Ryan Hoff, senior director of government affairs for the Indiana Farm Bureau, said the services have been needed in rural areas for a long time.
“We also recognize that there needs to be a financing mechanism in place to accompany any service like this because EMS medical services are more people-focused services,” Hoff. “It makes sense for us that income taxes would be the basis for that, but understanding that’s potentially a policy conversation for different committees.
“Also, there needs to be clear data sharing with the state to help counties understand where coverage deficits exist today and how to manage those going forward.”
The bill still raised concerns for some who believe it may set their counties up to fail through lack of funding that might lead to more income taxes.
Knox County Commissioner Kellie Streeter said she supports the principle of the bill and believes a gap exists in this service. Her concern is not the goal but the lack of fiscal framework.
Carmel Fire Chief Joel Thacker shared his support of the bill, saying 50% of counties in Indiana experience ambulance deserts, which are places more than 25 minutes from an ambulance station.
Alyssa Schroeder, legislative director at the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, also spoke in support of HB 1251.
She shared a study from IDHS showing that only 77.4% of Indiana EMS provider organizations were able to provide 24/7 basic life support coverage, while just 42.4% were able to provide 24/7 advanced life support.
The bill passed 12-0 and will now return to the House for its second reading.