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RESOLUTION <br /> <br />IN SUPPORT OF <br /> <br />EQUITABLE MEDICARE/MF~DICAID REIMBURSEMENT <br />FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAI J AMBULANCE SERVICES IN <br />NORTH CAROLINA <br /> <br />WHEREAS, North Carolina taxpayers pay the same per capita share of federal taxes and <br /> payments to the Social Security Trust Fund as do residents of the remaining forty- <br /> nine states; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, users of Medicare and Medicaid represent over 50% of the payer base for <br /> providers of emergency medical ambulance services in North Carolina, due to their <br /> medical needs and demand for the service; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, charges for Medicare and Medicaid patients for emergency medical <br /> ambulance service consequently represent a significant portion of the total charges <br /> for emergency medical ambulance service; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, local governments in North Carolina have provided a commendable level <br /> of support to emergency medical services, through capital and operating subsidies <br /> which underwrite lower per-patient charges for service; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, this high level of local government support and corresponding low fees for <br /> service have been used as justification for payment of unjustly low <br /> Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement; and. <br /> <br />WHEREAS, other states whose costs of providing service are not three times higher than <br /> North Carolina's, in fact receive reimbursement at three times what North Carolina <br /> receives; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, this failure of the Medicare/Medicaid system to provide equitable <br /> reimbursement to North Carolina providers has penalized local governments for <br /> their historic support, and has resulted in North Carolina's ranking at the bottom of <br /> all 50 states in temps of Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement for emergency.medical <br /> ambulance services; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, North Carolina is not alone of states with local government support for <br /> emergency medical ambulance service, and other similar predominantly rural <br /> states having strong local government support also tend to experience lower <br /> reimbursement rates; and <br /> <br />£-/? <br /> <br /> <br />