as introduced - 92nd Legislature (2021 - 2022) Posted on 02/17/2022 02:18pm
A bill for an act
relating to health; establishing a rural ambulance service staffing grant program;
appropriating money; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter
144E.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
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For purposes of this section, "rural ambulance service" means
an ambulance service whose primary service area is mainly located outside the metropolitan
counties listed in section 473.121, subdivision 4, and outside the cities of Duluth, Mankato,
Moorhead, Rochester, and St. Cloud.
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(a) The board shall establish and administer a program to
award grants to rural ambulance services for certain rural ambulance service staffing costs.
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(b) In administering the grant program, the board shall coordinate with the boards of the
regional emergency medical services systems in the state.
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In order to be eligible for a grant under
this section, a rural ambulance service must:
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(1) be publicly owned or be organized as or owned by a nonprofit corporation; and
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(2) in the calendar year prior to the year the rural ambulance service first applies for a
grant, have had at least 60 percent of its ambulance service staffing provided by volunteer
ambulance attendants.
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An eligible rural ambulance service seeking a grant under this
section shall apply to the board in a form and manner specified by the board and according
to timelines established by the board. In its application, the rural ambulance service must
specify the number of personnel it plans to fund using grant funds, the number of hours per
week it plans to staff the ambulance service using grant funds, and other information required
by the board.
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(a) A rural
ambulance service shall use grant funds awarded under this section only for the salary and
benefits costs of EMTs, AEMTs, and paramedics to staff the rural ambulance service for
up to 168 hours per week at a rate that, for fiscal year 2023, shall not exceed $24 per
employee per hour.
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(b) The grant amount awarded to a rural ambulance service shall not exceed the amount
needed to fund up to 168 hours per week of rural ambulance service staffing by EMTs,
AEMTs, and paramedics at a rate that, for fiscal year 2023, shall not exceed $24 per employee
per hour.
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(c) For fiscal year 2024 and each subsequent fiscal year, the board shall adjust the hourly
rate in paragraphs (a) and (b) for inflation based on the Consumer Price Index for all urban
consumers for the previous calendar year.
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Rural ambulance services receiving a grant under
this section must provide the board with information necessary for the board to administer
and evaluate the grant program.
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$25,000,000 in fiscal year 2023 is appropriated from the general fund to the Emergency
Medical Services Regulatory Board for the rural ambulance service staffing grant program
under Minnesota Statutes, section 144E.51.
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