HF2662

Purpose of the Bill

The bill aims to provide financial assistance to licensed ambulance services in Minnesota with low response densities to help support their operational expenses.

Main Provisions

• Aid Eligibility: Ambulance services with a response density of 30 or fewer responses per square mile are eligible to apply for aid. Response density is calculated based on the number of emergency medical services (EMS) responses divided by the square mileage of the service area.
• Aid Calculation: The aid payments to eligible ambulance services are determined by a formula that involves distributing a portion of appropriated funds equally, while the remaining funds are divided based on the service areas' size and EMS responses. Licensees are awarded points for EMS responses, with a tiered system to assign value to each response.
• Expenditure of Aid: Recipients must use the aid payments for expenses related to ambulance services within their designated service areas and must spend the funds within two years. Unspent funds must be returned.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Specialized life support responses are excluded from aid calculations.
• If multiple licenses are held by related entities, they are treated as a single entity for aid calculations.
• New reporting requirements are established for aid recipients to ensure transparency and accountability. Recipients must report on their use of the aid, and the director must report these findings to relevant legislative committees.

Funding

• The bill appropriates $15 million for both fiscal years 2026 and 2027 from the general fund for these aid payments.

Relevant Terms

• Ambulance services
• EMS responses
• Response density
• Aid payments
• Appropriation
• Reporting requirements
• Specialized life support