Healthcare (Public Safety)

SB 221 establishes that "treatment-in-place" services - where ambulance providers assess and treat patients at the scene of a 911 call without transporting them - must be covered under Louisiana's Medicaid program (medical assistance program). Ambulance providers (excluding air ambulance services) will be reimbursed at existing Medicaid fee schedule rates for these services, without requiring real-time video or audio communication with a doctor for reimbursement. The bill mandates that such services follow medical protocols and the provider's scope of practice, while the Louisiana Department of Health will create implementing rules. This directly affects Medicaid beneficiaries receiving non-transport emergency care and ambulance providers who serve them.