Rural EMS uncompensated care pool payment program established, and money appropriated.

HF 696 establishes a $3 million one-time payment program to reimburse rural ambulance services for uncompensated emergency medical responses. It directly affects licensed ambulance providers operating primarily outside Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan counties who provided emergency care without receiving payment. The program calculates payments using a point system (10 points for first 25 responses, decreasing to 1 point for 101-200 responses) based on eligible EMS responses meeting specific criteria (e.g., initiated via public safety answering point, no transport to hospital, no prior payment). Payments, totaling $3 million, will be distributed to qualifying providers by May 30, 2026, based on the total points awarded across all applicants.