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TITLE 25HEALTH SERVICES
PART 1DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES
CHAPTER 157EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE
SUBCHAPTER GEMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES TRAUMA SYSTEMS
RULE §157.130Emergency Medical Services and Trauma Care System Account and Emergency Medical Services, Trauma Facilities, and Trauma Care System Fund

(a) Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

  (1) Extraordinary emergency--An event or situation which may disrupt the services of an EMS/trauma system.

  (2) Rural county--A county with a population of less than 50,000 based on the latest official federal census population figures.

  (3) Urban county--A county with a population of 50,000 or more based on the latest official federal census population figures.

  (4) Emergency transfer--Any immediate transfer of an emergent or unstable patient, ordered by a licensed physician, from a health care facility to a health care facility which has the capability of providing a higher level of care or of providing a specialized type of care not available at the transferring facility.

  (5) Trauma care--Care provided to patients who underwent treatment specified in at least one of the following ICD-9 (International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, of the National Center of Health Statistics) codes: between 800.00 and 959.9, including 940.0-949.0 (burns), excluding 905.0-909.0 (late effects of injuries), 910.0-924.0 (blisters, contusions, abrasions, and insect bites), 930.0-939.0 (foreign bodies), and who underwent an operative intervention as defined in paragraph (9) of this subsection or was admitted as an inpatient for greater than 23-hours or who died after receiving any emergency department evaluation or treatment or was dead on arrival to the facility or who transferred into or out of the hospital.

  (6) Uncompensated trauma care--The sum of "charity care" and "bad debt" resulting from trauma care as defined in paragraph (5) of this subsection after due diligence to collect. Contractual adjustments in reimbursement for trauma services based upon an agreement with a payor (to include but not limited to Medicaid, Medicare, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), etc.) is not uncompensated trauma care.

  (7) Charity care--The unreimbursed cost to a hospital of providing health care services on an inpatient or emergency department basis to a person classified by the hospital as "financially indigent" or "medically indigent".

    (A) Financially indigent--An uninsured or underinsured person who is accepted for care with no obligation or a discounted obligation to pay for the services rendered based on the hospital's eligibility system.

    (B) Medically indigent--A person whose medical or hospital bills after payment by third-party payors (to include but not limited to Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP, etc.) exceed a specified percentage of the patient's annual gross income, determined in accordance with the hospital's eligibility system, and the person is financially unable to pay the remaining bill.

  (8) Bad debt--The unreimbursed cost to a hospital of providing health care services on an inpatient or emergency department basis to a person who is financially unable to pay, in whole or in part, for the services rendered and whose account has been classified as bad debt based upon the hospital's bad debt policy. A hospital's bad debt policy should be in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

  (9) Operative intervention--Any surgical procedure resulting from a patient being taken directly from the emergency department to an operating suite regardless of whether the patient was admitted to the hospital.

  (10) Calculation of the costs of uncompensated trauma care--For the purposes of this section, a hospital will calculate its total costs of uncompensated trauma care by summing its charges related to uncompensated trauma care as defined in paragraph (6) of this subsection, then applying the cost to charge ratio defined in paragraph (12) of this subsection and derived in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

  (11) County of licensure--The County within which lies the location of the business mailing address of a licensed ambulance provider, as indicated by the provider on the application for licensure form that it filed with the department.

  (12) Cost-to-charge ratio--A hospital's overall cost-to-charge ratio determined by the Health and Human Services Commission from the hospital's Medicaid cost report. The hospital's latest available cost-to-charge ratio shall be used to calculate its uncompensated trauma care costs.

(b) Reserve. On September 1 of each year, there shall be a reserve of $500,000 in the emergency medical services (EMS) and trauma care system account and the emergency medical services, trauma facilities, and trauma care system fund (accounts) for extraordinary emergencies. During the fiscal year, distributions may be made from the reserve by the commissioner of health based on requests which demonstrate need and impact on the EMS and trauma care system (system). Proposals not immediately recommended for funding will be reconsidered at the end of each fiscal year, if funding is available, and need are still present.

(c) Allotments. The EMS allotment shall be 50%, the trauma service area (TSA) allotment shall be not more than 20%, and the uncompensated care allotment shall be at least 27% of the funds remaining from the accounts after any amount necessary to maintain the extraordinary emergency reserve of $500,000 has been deducted.

  (1) Allotment Determination. Each year, the department shall determine:

    (A) eligibility of all EMS providers, regional advisory councils (RACs), and trauma facilities;

    (B) the amount of the TSA allotment, the EMS allotment, and the uncompensated care allotment;

    (C) each county's share of the EMS allotment for eligible recipients in the county;

    (D) each RAC's share of the TSA allotment; and

    (E) each designated trauma facility's share of the uncompensated care allotment.

  (2) EMS Allotment. The department shall contract with each eligible RAC to distribute the county shares of the EMS allotment to eligible EMS providers based within counties which are aligned within the relevant RAC. Prior to distribution of the county shares to eligible providers, the RAC shall submit a distribution proposal, approved by the RAC's voting membership, to the department for approval.

    (A) The county portion of the EMS allotment shall be distributed directly to eligible recipients without any reduction in the total amount allocated by the department and shall be used as an addition to current county EMS funding of eligible recipients, not as a replacement.

    (B) The department shall evaluate each RAC's distribution plan based on the following:

      (i) fair distribution process to all eligible providers, taking into account all eligible providers participating in contiguous TSAs;

      (ii) needs of the EMS providers; and

      (iii) evidence of consensus opinion for eligible entities.

    (C) A RAC opting to use a distribution plan from the previous fiscal year shall submit, to the department, a letter or email of intent to do so.

    (D) Eligible EMS providers may opt to pool funds or contribute funds for a specified RAC purpose.

  (3) TSA Allotment. The department shall contract with each eligible RAC to distribute the TSA allotment. Prior to distribution of the TSA allotment, the RAC shall submit a budget proposal to the department for approval. The department shall evaluate each RAC's budget according to the following:

    (A) budget reflects all funds received by the RAC, including funds not expended in the previous fiscal year;

    (B) budget contains no ineligible expenses;

    (C) appropriate mechanism is used by RAC for budgetary planning; and

    (D) program areas receiving funding are identified by budget categories.

  (4) Uncompensated Care Allotment. The department shall contract with each eligible RAC to distribute shares of the uncompensated care allotment to eligible designated trauma facilities within the RAC's TSA. Prior to distribution of the uncompensated care allotment, the RAC shall submit a distribution proposal, approved by the RAC's voting membership, to the department for approval.

    (A) The department shall evaluate each RAC's distribution plan based on the following:

      (i) fair distribution process to all eligible providers;

      (ii) needs of designated trauma facilities; and

      (iii) evidence of consensus opinion from eligible entities.

    (B) A RAC opting to use a distribution plan from the previous fiscal year shall submit, to the department, a letter or email of intent to do so.

Cont'd...

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