Healthcare (Public Safety)

HF 265, also known as "Brent's Law," requires Minnesota 911 call centers to identify mental health crisis calls and prioritize mental health crisis teams as primary responders when available. It mandates that 911 telecommunicators receive specific training or mental health staff screen calls to recognize crises, and establishes protocols for public safety answering points to comply. The bill also creates a civil lawsuit option for individuals or families harmed by violations, allowing claims for damages, attorney fees, and up to $15,000 in punitive damages for willful violations. This directly affects all Minnesota public safety answering points and the government entities operating them.

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.

This bill establishes a new assessment program for ambulance providers in Minnesota. It requires most ambulance services (excluding public/governmental services and air ambulances) to pay a quarterly fee based on their gross revenues from emergency ground ambulance services. The collected fees fund supplemental payments to ambulance providers, aiming to increase Minnesota's medical assistance reimbursement rates to match average commercial insurance rates. The program includes annual reporting requirements starting in 2027 and must comply with federal funding rules.

This bill provides state funding to support ambulance services in rural or low-population areas. It authorizes $15 million annually (2026-2027) to pay eligible ambulance providers with 30 or fewer emergency calls per square mile. Aid is calculated in three parts: 20% equally distributed, 40% based on service area size (capped at 1,200 square miles), and 40% based on a tiered point system for emergency responses. Recipients must spend funds within two years on licensed ambulance services within their primary service area and submit annual usage reports.

This bill establishes a state grant program to help ambulance services train and staff emergency medical technicians (EMTs). Licensed ambulance services that maintained at least 50% EMT staffing in the prior year can apply for grants covering tuition for EMT training programs, certification exam fees, background checks, and wage costs during training (capped at $26/hour). The program allocates $750,000 for fiscal year 2026 and $750,000 for fiscal year 2027 from the general fund. Grants must be used solely for these specified training and staffing costs, with applicants required to detail planned hires and training hours.