STATE OF ALASKA

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES

PUBLIC NOTICE

The Department of Health and Social Services is preparing to submit a State Plan Amendment to comply with House Bill 176 to implement a voluntary supplemental emergency medical transportation (SEMT) program for applicable Medicaid providers who are owned or operated by the state, a political subdivision of the state, or a federally recognized tribe or tribal organization using Certified Public Expenditures. Providers who are eligible for the program and voluntarily agree to participate in the program, will continue to receive standard fee-for-service payments for emergency medical transportation, but will be eligible for federal supplemental payments for the federal funds share of the difference between the provider’s costs and the fee-for service payments. The federal supplemental payments will be calculated utilizing the cost per transport from a provider submission of a CMS-approved cost report. Regulations will follow the State Plan Amendment.

The supplemental emergency medical transportation (SEMT) program will not increase any state general fund expenditures. The supplemental payments are exclusively the federal funds portion.

The Department will be submitting the State Plan Amendment (SPA) for this program before September 30, 2019. Upon approval of the SPA, the Department will submit for public review and comment a regulation packet that will outline the parameter of this new program and how supplemental payments will be calculated and made. At that time, the public, including all providers who are eligible to receive the supplemental will have the opportunity to submit written comments, which will be taken into consideration as we finalize this new program. This program will not be effective, and therefore payment will not occur, until the regulations are formally adopted which is expected to happen in the Summer of 2020.

Individuals wishing to review the proposed state plan amendment or who have questions about his process should contact Katherine McDonald at katherine.mcdonald@alaska.gov before September 20th. After the State Plan Amendment, regulations will be publicly noticed on the Alaska Online Public Notice System.