Maine Revised Statutes Title 32 Sec. 98 – Emergency Medical Services Stabilization and Sustainability Program
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The Emergency Medical Services Stabilization and Sustainability Program, referred to in this section as “the program,” is established within the department, to be administered by Maine Emergency Medical Services in consultation with the board and the Department of Health and Human Services, to provide financial assistance to emergency medical services entities based in the State that are facing immediate risk of failure, to increase the sustainability, efficiency and resiliency of emergency medical services throughout the State and to help ensure that all residents of the State continue to have access to high-quality, out-of-hospital clinical care provided by the emergency medical services system. [PL 2023, c. 412, Pt. GGGGG, §1 (NEW).]
1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.
A. “Community” means a municipality, group of municipalities or other area of the State served by an emergency medical services entity. [PL 2023, c. 412, Pt. GGGGG, §1 (NEW).]
B. “Emergency medical services entity” means an ambulance service or nontransporting emergency medical service or emergency medical services training center licensed under this chapter or a regional council. [PL 2023, c. 438, §1 (AMD).]
C. “Historical activations” means the number of times an emergency medical services entity was dispatched by the E-9-1-1 system within a defined period of time. [PL 2023, c. 412, Pt. GGGGG, §1 (NEW).]
D. “Rurality” means a community’s score established by the United States Department of Agriculture that indicates the rural nature of the community. [PL 2023, c. 412, Pt. GGGGG, §1 (NEW).]
[PL 2023, c. 438, §1 (AMD).]
Terms Used In Maine Revised Statutes Title 32 Sec. 98
- Ambulance: means any vehicle, whether an air, ground or water vehicle, that is designed, constructed or routinely used or intended to be used for the transportation of ill or injured persons. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 32 Sec. 83
- Ambulance service: means any person, persons or organization that holds itself out to be a provider of transportation of ill or injured persons or that routinely provides transportation for ill or injured persons. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 32 Sec. 83
- Board: means the Emergency Medical Services' Board established pursuant to section 88. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 32 Sec. 83
- Department: means the Department of Public Safety. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 32 Sec. 83
- Director: means the Director of Maine Emergency Medical Services. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 32 Sec. 83
- Electronic funds transfer: The transfer of money between accounts by consumer electronic systems-such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and electronic payment of bills-rather than by check or cash. (Wire transfers, checks, drafts, and paper instruments do not fall into this category.) Source: OCC
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Maine Emergency Medical Services: means the board, the emergency medical services director and staff within the Department of Public Safety responsible for carrying out the purposes of this chapter. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 32 Sec. 83
- Municipality: includes cities, towns and plantations, except that "municipality" does not include plantations in Title 10, chapter 110, subchapter IV; or Title 30?A, Part 2. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72
- Nontransporting emergency medical service: means any organization, person or persons who hold themselves out as providers of emergency medical treatment and who do not routinely provide transportation to ill or injured persons, and who routinely offer or provide services to the general public beyond the boundaries of a single recreational site, business, school or other facility. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 32 Sec. 83
- Regional council: means a business entity recognized by the board that represents a geographical area of the State, as designated by the board, with respect to matters subject to this chapter. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 32 Sec. 83
- United States: includes territories and the District of Columbia. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72
- Year: means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 1 Sec. 72
2. Purpose and use of funding. The purpose of the program is to provide financial assistance, in accordance with subsection 3, to emergency medical services entities at immediate risk of failing and leaving their communities without access to adequate emergency medical services and to provide grants to assist emergency medical services entities with long-term sustainability and resiliency planning and programming within the emergency medical services system in accordance with subsection 4.
[PL 2023, c. 412, Pt. GGGGG, §1 (NEW).]
3. Funding requirements. This subsection provides requirements for financial assistance to emergency medical services entities at immediate risk of failing and leaving their communities without access to adequate emergency medical services. Financial assistance under this subsection must be provided through the program.
A. Using a form developed and made available by the board, an emergency medical services entity applying for funding under this subsection must demonstrate that the entity:
(1) Is at immediate risk of failing and leaving its community without access to adequate emergency medical services due to employee recruitment or retention issues or an inability to finance daily operations. The entity must submit a financial statement covering its most recent fiscal year;
(2) Provided ambulance services or nontransporting emergency medical services to its community during the prior calendar year;
(3) Is providing and intends to continue to provide ambulance services or nontransporting emergency medical services to its community; and
(4) In the case of an applicant that is an ambulance service only, is participating in the MaineCare program and maintains an electronic funds transfer account with the Department of Health and Human Services. [PL 2023, c. 412, Pt. GGGGG, §1 (NEW).]
B. As a condition of receiving funding under this subsection, an emergency medical services entity meeting the requirements of paragraph A must enter into an agreement with Maine Emergency Medical Services requiring the entity to:
(1) Use all funding received to support only those activities as specified by the board in the application, which must include, but are not limited to:
(a) Supplementing wages, benefits, stipends and incentives for emergency medical services persons;
(b) Supporting training directly related to the provision of clinical care, leadership or management of emergency medical services;
(c) Supplementing wages, benefits, stipends and incentives for administrative support staff;
(d) Implementation of programming directly related to a strategic plan for the emergency medical services system developed by the board; and
(e) Investment in capital expenditures not to exceed $50,000 in the aggregate;
(2) Submit a report to the board no later than December 31st of the year in which the entity receives the funding identifying how the funding was expended; and
(3) If the board determines, based on the report, that the funding was used to support activities not identified in the application as authorized expenditures, repay all such unauthorized expenditures for redistribution in accordance with this subsection.
(a) For the purposes of this subparagraph, a funding expenditure by an entity is deemed to be unauthorized and subject to repayment if the board determines the expenditure was used to supplant the entity’s existing emergency medical services funding sources, except for funding sources originating from in-kind donations, fund-raisers or volunteer labor.
(b) To the extent permissible under applicable federal laws and regulations and state laws and rules, the Department of Health and Human Services may withhold future payments or reimbursements under the MaineCare program that are due to an entity that is an ambulance service and that is required to repay unauthorized expenditures under this subparagraph until such unauthorized expenditures are repaid in full. Payments withheld under this paragraph must be transferred to the program established in this section. [PL 2023, c. 412, Pt. GGGGG, §1 (NEW).]
C. The board shall establish an allocation algorithm for maximum and minimum funding distributions to emergency medical services entities under this subsection based on the rurality of a community and historical activations for emergency medical services. [PL 2023, c. 412, Pt. GGGGG, §1 (NEW).]
D. The board may establish reasonable deadlines by which an emergency medical services entity seeking funding under this subsection must enter into an agreement pursuant to paragraph B. [PL 2023, c. 412, Pt. GGGGG, §1 (NEW).]
[PL 2023, c. 412, Pt. GGGGG, §1 (NEW).]
4. Sustainability grant requirements. This subsection provides requirements for grants to emergency medical services entities to increase support and develop a plan for sustainability, collaboration and enhancement of efficiency in the delivery of emergency medical services in the State. The board shall adopt rules establishing requirements for grants under this subsection. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2?A.
A. Using a form developed and made available by the board, an emergency medical services entity may apply for and be awarded a grant under this subsection upon a determination by the board that the applicant meets all applicable requirements for the grant as established by the board by rule. [PL 2023, c. 412, Pt. GGGGG, §1 (NEW).]
B. Upon the recommendation of the director after consultation with the board, the board shall establish an allocation algorithm for maximum and minimum funding distributions to emergency medical services entities under this subsection, which may, as applicable, be based on the rurality of the community and historical activations for emergency medical services. [PL 2023, c. 412, Pt. GGGGG, §1 (NEW).]
[PL 2023, c. 412, Pt. GGGGG, §1 (NEW).]
SECTION HISTORY
PL 2023, c. 412, Pt. GGGGG, §1 (NEW). PL 2023, c. 438, §1 (AMD).