This bill establishes a statewide ground ambulance cost reporting program and commissions a study by an independent actuarial and accounting expert to analyze the cost of providing ground ambulance services in the state. The study aims to create an illustrative ground ambulance rate schedule that would cover the reasonable cost of efficiently delivered care and a reasonable operating margin, assuming all payers in the state pay at the same rate. The insurance commissioner will oversee the program, and the commissioner of the department of safety will collaborate in collecting cost and revenue reports from all ground ambulance providers. The actuarial and accounting contractor may use the Medicare ground ambulance cost reporting template and is tasked with summarizing the collected data to derive a cost-based default rate schedule for fully-insured commercial payers for reimbursing nonparticipating ground ambulance providers.

The bill specifies that the cost of the study and rate schedule development will be financed by the New Hampshire health plan through a one-time special assessment of assessable entities. The New Hampshire health plan will select a qualified actuarial and accounting vendor through a competitive bidding process, with the approval of the commissioner. The commissioner has the authority to waive certain formal requirements to expedite the process and meet the December 31, 2024, deadline for the study and report. The final report will be submitted to various state officials and committees, and the act shall take effect upon its passage, with an approval date of July 19, 2024. No specific insertions or deletions from current law are mentioned in the provided text.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 415:6-q, 415:18-v
As Amended by the Senate: 415:6-q, 415:18-v
As Amended by the Senate (2nd): 415:6-q, 415:18-v
As Amended by the House: 415:6-q