HB324 Alabama 2024 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Rex ReynoldsRepresentative

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2024

Title

Emergency medical transport providers, assessment period extended

Summary

HB324 extends the emergency medical transport provider assessment period through the fiscal quarter starting July 1, 2025 to fund Medicaid emergency transport enhancements.

What This Bill Does

HB324 keeps and extends the quarterly assessment on emergency medical transport providers through July 1, 2025, and defines how the assessment rate and Medicaid transport enhancements are calculated. It requires providers to file quarterly reports, maintain records, and keeps information confidential, with rules governing administration. It also includes conditions under which the program could end and refunds to providers if federal participation or state funding ends.

Who It Affects

• Emergency medical transport providers: subject to a quarterly assessment based on transports, required to report quarterly totals and maintain records, and eligible for quarterly enhancement payments funded by the assessment.
• Alabama Medicaid Agency and the administering department: responsible for calculating the assessment rate, establishing the transport enhancement rate, computing and distributing quarterly enhancements, collecting data, and enforcing program requirements.

Key Provisions

• Extends the EMS provider assessment period through the fiscal quarter starting July 1, 2025.
• Calculates the quarterly assessment rate as the product of projected total gross receipts (across all providers) times 5.3%, divided by projected total annual transports, with a cap so the proportion of assessments does not exceed half a percentage point below the federal maximum for annual net patient revenue.
• Provides quarterly EMS enhancement payments to providers: each quarter, payments equal the preceding quarter's total transports reimbursed as primary payer by Medicaid multiplied by the transport enhancement rate set from the assessment pool.
• Requires providers to file a quarterly statement by the 15th day after each quarter ends and to keep books/records for at least 3 years, with confidentiality of information unless needed for administration.
• Allows termination of the article if federal participation is unavailable or state funding is not derived from the assessment, and requires refund of any remaining assessment pool to providers in proportion to amounts previously paid (based on specified timing).
• Effective date: June 1, 2024.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 22, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Taxation & Revenue