BILL NUMBER: SB 1374INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Hernandez FEBRUARY 21, 2014 An act to relating to Medi-Cal. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1374, as introduced, Hernandez. Medi-Cal: ambulance services. Existing law provides for the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. Existing law prohibits a city or county from establishing equipment and personnel standards for the furnishing of nonemergency medical transportation services for eligible Medi-Cal beneficiaries that are in conflict with equipment and personnel standards for reimbursement established by the department. This bill would state findings and declarations of the Legislature relative to ambulance services. The bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to ensure the continued viability of emergency medical systems throughout the state by establishing payment definitions and policies for the Medi-Cal program, as related to ambulance services that meet nationally recognized standards. The bill would also express the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to establish Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for essential emergency and nonemergency ambulance services that will cover, at a minimum, the actual costs of providing those services, and to enact legislation to ensure the provision of essential medically necessary emergency and nonemergency ambulance response and transportation services to the citizens of California. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares the following: (1) Ambulance services play a vital role in providing quality health care and are a critical component of the public safety first response in times of natural or man-made disasters. (2) With the passage of the Emergency Medical Services System and the Prehospital Emergency Medical Care Personnel Act in 1980, the intent of the Legislature has been to maintain and promote the development of emergency medical technician paramedic programs where appropriate throughout the state, and to initiate EMT II limited advanced life support programs only where geography, population density, and resources would not make the establishment of a paramedic program feasible. (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to ensure the continued viability of emergency medical systems throughout the state by establishing payment definitions and policies for the Medi-Cal program, as related to ambulance services that meet nationally recognized standards. (c) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to establish Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for essential emergency and nonemergency ambulance services that will cover, at a minimum, the actual costs of providing those services. (d) It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to ensure the provision of essential medically necessary emergency and nonemergency ambulance response and transportation services to the citizens of California.