Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

Minnesota House Bill HF337 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1.1 A bill for an act
2	2	1.2 relating to health; establishing an ambulance operating deficit grant program;
3	3	1.3 establishing an account; requiring reports; proposing coding for new law in
4	4	1.4 Minnesota Statutes, chapter 144E.
5	5	1.5BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
6	6	1.6 Section 1. [144E.54] AMBULANCE OPERATING DEFICIT GRANT PROGRAM.
7	7	1.7 Subdivision 1.Definitions.(a) For the purposes of this section, the terms defined in this
8	8	1.8subdivision have the meanings given.
9	9	1.9 (b) "Capital expenses" means expenses incurred by a licensee for the purchase,
10	10	1.10improvement, or maintenance of assets with an expected useful life of greater than five
11	11	1.11years that improve the efficiency of provided ambulance services or the capabilities of the
12	12	1.12licensee.
13	13	1.13 (c) "EMS response" means the number of responses provided within a primary service
14	14	1.14area during the most recently completed calendar year by the licensed ambulance service
15	15	1.15provider designated to serve the primary service area as reported by the provider to the
16	16	1.16board via the Minnesota state ambulance reporting system.
17	17	1.17 (d) "Government licensee" means any government entity, as defined in section 118A.01,
18	18	1.18subdivision 2, including a Tribe, that is a licensee.
19	19	1.19 (e) "Insurance revenue" means revenue from Medicare, medical assistance, private health
20	20	1.20insurance, third-party liability insurance, and payments from individuals.
21	21	1.21 (f) "Operating deficit" means the sum of insurance revenue and other revenue is less
22	22	1.22than the sum of operational expenses and capital expenses.
23	23	1Section 1.
24	24	REVISOR AGW/ES 25-0243202/03/25
25	25	State of Minnesota
26	26	This Document can be made available
27	27	in alternative formats upon request
28	28	HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
29	29	H. F. No. 337
30	30	NINETY-FOURTH SESSION
31	31	Authored by Zeleznikar02/13/2025
32	32	The bill was read for the first time and referred to the Committee on Health Finance and Policy 2.1 (g) "Operational expenses" means costs related to the day-to-day operations of an
33	33	2.2ambulance service, including but not limited to costs related to personnel, supplies and
34	34	2.3equipment, fuel, vehicle maintenance, travel, education, and fundraising.
35	35	2.4 (h) "Other revenue" means revenue from any revenue that is not insurance revenue,
36	36	2.5including but not limited to grants, tax revenue, donations, fundraisers, or standby fees.
37	37	2.6 (i) "Response density" means the quotient of EMS responses divided by the square
38	38	2.7mileage of the primary service area.
39	39	2.8 Subd. 2.Program establishment.An ambulance operating deficit grant program is
40	40	2.9established to award grants to applicants to address revenue shortfalls creating operating
41	41	2.10deficits among eligible applicants.
42	42	2.11 Subd. 3.Account established.An ambulance operating deficit account is created in the
43	43	2.12special revenue fund in the state treasury. The director shall credit the account appropriations
44	44	2.13and transfers to the account. Earnings, including interest, dividends, and any other earnings
45	45	2.14arising from assets of the account, must be credited to the account. The director shall manage
46	46	2.15the account.
47	47	2.16 Subd. 4.Eligible applicants.For the purposes of this section "eligible applicant" means
48	48	2.17any licensee who possessed a license not excluded under subdivision 5 or 6 in the last
49	49	2.18completed state fiscal year for which data was provided to the director, as provided in section
50	50	2.1962J.49, who continues to operate that same nonexcluded license at the time of application,
51	51	2.20and who provides verifiable evidence of an operating deficit in the state fiscal year prior to
52	52	2.21submitting an application.
53	53	2.22 Subd. 5.Licensee providing specialized life support services excluded.Licensees
54	54	2.23providing specialized life support services as described in section 144E.101, subdivision 9,
55	55	2.24are ineligible for grants under this section.
56	56	2.25 Subd. 6.Certain single license holders excluded.Licensees who possess only one
57	57	2.26license are not eligible for grants under this section if the licensed primary service area has
58	58	2.27a response density greater than 30.
59	59	2.28 Subd. 7.Certain multiple license holders excluded.(a) Except as provided under
60	60	2.29paragraph (b), all licenses held by a multiple license holder are ineligible for grants under
61	61	2.30this section if any license held by a multiple license holder is designated to serve a primary
62	62	2.31service area, any portion of which is located within the cities of Duluth, Mankato, Rochester,
63	63	2.32or St. Cloud, or a metropolitan county.
64	64	2Section 1.
65	65	REVISOR AGW/ES 25-0243202/03/25 3.1 (b) For a multiple license holder affiliated with a private nonprofit adult hospital that is
66	66	3.2located in Hennepin County and designated by the commissioner of health as a level I trauma
67	67	3.3hospital, only the licenses held by the multiple license holder and located entirely within
68	68	3.4one or more metropolitan counties are ineligible for grants under this section.
69	69	3.5 Subd. 8.Application process.(a) An eligible licensee may apply to the director, in the
70	70	3.6form and manner determined by the director, for a grant under this section.
71	71	3.7 (b) A grant application made by a government licensee must be accompanied by a
72	72	3.8resolution of support from the governing body.
73	73	3.9 Subd. 9.Director calculations.The director shall award grants only to applicants who
74	74	3.10provide verifiable evidence of an operating deficit in the last completed state fiscal year for
75	75	3.11which data were provided to the director. A grant awarded must not be more than five
76	76	3.12percent more than any previous grant without special permission from the director.
77	77	3.13 Subd. 10.Grant awards; limitations.(a) Grants awarded under this section to eligible
78	78	3.14applicants may be proportionally distributed based on money available. Total amounts
79	79	3.15awarded must not exceed the amount in the ambulance operating deficit account.
80	80	3.16 (b) The director shall award grants annually.
81	81	3.17 (c) The director must not award individual grants that exceed the amount of the grantee's
82	82	3.18most recent verified operating deficit as reported to the director.
83	83	3.19 Subd. 11.Eligible expenditures.A grantee must spend grant money received under
84	84	3.20this section on operational expenses and capital expenses incurred to provide ambulance
85	85	3.21services.
86	86	3.22 Subd. 12.Report.By February 15, 2026, and annually thereafter, the director must
87	87	3.23submit a report to the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees
88	88	3.24with jurisdiction over health finance and policy. The report must describe the number and
89	89	3.25amount of grants awarded under this section and the uses made of grant money by grantees.
90	90	3Section 1.
91	91	REVISOR AGW/ES 25-0243202/03/25