On Wednesday, March 15th the House of Representatives Health Finance and Policy Committee held a meeting. At this committee meeting Representative Becker-Finn introduced House File 2736. The bill aims to reform the current statute as it relates to EMS service delivery.
The room was charged with EMS providers, First Responders, Fire Departments, Physicians, Council Members and others who wished to support or oppose the bill.
Testimonies were heard by multiple individuals representing many of the unique and critical service areas throughout the State of MN. It was evident that the legislation proposed created a buzz around how we currently do business and the impacts of each and every proposed change.
The Committee Chair made it clear to the crowd that there would be no actual vote this evening. That the bill would be laid over and that there is an agreement with the author that the bill would not move forward in this session. Chair Liebling stated, “This is an important issue that requires a lot of discussion, and this is the beginning of a really in-depth discussion that we expect will continue over the interim and we hope will get a lot more attention next session.” No support or opposition by the individual committee members, rather a listening session, and an opportunity to collect more information on a very complex and difficult problem.
Representatives throughout the committee acknowledged that the current system, and its challenges, should be addressed. That the conversation should be robust and there is unlikely to be a one size fits all fix.
Representative Becker-Finn closed the conversation, “This is a systemic issue it isn’t, delays or times in response it isn’t necessarily the fault of any of these people who serve our communities.” and “When the system isn’t working for some communities, the answer for any one of us cannot be its working fine for me so leave it as it is.” Every Minnesotan deserves high-quality service during an emergency and we should continue to evolve to ensure that opportunity exists.
To watch the committee hearing click here:
https://www.house.mn.gov/hjvid/93/896600
To read the entire bill:
https://www.house.mn.gov/comm/docs/lua2UalJtkuBTc08SyhsJQ.pdf
HF2736 (Becker-Finn) – Requirements for licensure and license renewal of ambulance services modified, permits from municipalities required to provide service in primary service area, rulemaking to modify primary service areas required, and establishment of performance standards required.