By: Keith Wright Fire Chief, Central Pierce Fire & Rescue Vice President, Washington Fire Chiefs
On April 29th, Governor Inslee signed HB 2007 (GEMT)! The State Chiefs and State Council worked collaboratively to get this bill passed. It is not often that a bill will make it to the Governor for signature in one session – a huge success for the fire service in the State of Washington!
Our preliminary data indicates that the fire service across the state could see increased revenue of approximately $100 million annually. The state will also see about $20 million new revenue annually. All of this money comes from the federally-funded entitled program. This program is voluntary and each department in our state will need to consider if they wish to participate in the program.
The next step to implement GEMT is to develop how the bill will operate here in Washington. We will be working with the state’s Health Care Agency to develop the State Plan Amendment (SPA). This will take several months to get in place. Once the SPA is in place then additional public fire departments that wish to participate will have the opportunity. When the SPA is finalized there will be several seminars throughout the State on how the program works, what data will be needed, and how a fire department joins in to participate in the program.
This program will help offset lost revenue from Medicaid patients, currently supplemented by the local taxpayer, and allow fire departments to enhance their service to the citizens. If the SPA negotiations happen in a timely manner and departments sign up for the program, the fire service could begin to see this revenue early in 2017. If you have questions about GEMT feel free to contact me at:
Keith Wright
Central Pierce Fire & Rescue
Kwright@centralpiercefire.org or
(253) 538-6413