Medicaid Transportation Reimbursement Form: Fill & Download for Free

You've hit on a huge problem in EMS. As an EMS Chief, I think there are a couple of clear factors that seem to impact this:1. EMS systems are poorly funded all around in the United States. Medicare, the largest payer of almost every EMS service, pays a per-transport reimbursement that is about 25% less than the cost of doing the transport. Medicaid is even worse - they pay only about 1/2 of Medicare low rate. Since payroll costs are the largest portion of almost every department's budget, the that funding reality really hurts our staff.2. EMS workers have, by and large, failed to organize into an effective union and have failed to lobby (at the local, state, and federal levels) for the kind of programs and funding that our counterparts in fire departments (IAFF) and the law enforcement have used to boost their pay, their profile in the community, and the value they bring to the people they serve.3. A substantial portion of the EMS work force in the USA does the job for free - these volunteers are often people who work (full time) for one service and then go home and do the same job for free. That practice diminishes the supply-vs-demand negotiating power of EMS providers and makes it less important for EMS departments to provide their people with better wages.4. EMS workers also consistently block or stall advances in the educational and training requirements within the profession. By raising the standards, the profession could improve it's market position and be in a much stronger position to argue for or demand higher wages. People who argue against those higher standards are making it easier to hold down the pay of everyone in the profession.If you look across the EMS industry in the USA, fire-based EMS providers enjoy a much higher salary, on average, than single-role providers. This is due, in large part, to the fact that they've overcome the problems listed in #2-#4 and they've successfully convinced their local leaders to fund fire departments on a model that isn't based on reimbursements. (Fire departments actually started as subscription services in a lot of places.) If fire departments relied on house fires to fund their work, they would have never had the incentive to improve building codes, fire safety codes and do all the other things that they have done to substantially reduce the number of house fires.It's time to re-think the financial model of EMS and it's also time for EMS providers to get out of their own way!

What others didn’t mention is a change and reduction in Medicaid and other government reimbursement. Costs go up, revenue went down. Company for sale.

If I understand you correctly, no, you cannot use Uber as your medical taxi then have Medicaid reimbursement.Your caseworker and case file will have a number for you to call for transportation that hooks you up with a medical taxi service, and you'll need to call them in advance (how much in advance will depend on your city and resources, and this will be explained to you). If you book a medical taxi ride, you will not be paying anything out of pocket, your insurance will take care of that for you.If you have a last minute booking, that does get challenging. That's frankly why I have the Uber, lyft, curb and city transit apps on my iPhone, so I'm covered by everything if all else fails. Plus cash for bus or cab fare in my wallet. Can you tell I've experienced this before? You can call your medical taxi company and see if they can squeeze you in, or talk to your caseworker. Every state and city handles this differently.One further option is to book paratransit, but that is run by your local public transportation district, not something necessarily widely available in the USA.