The House Ways and Means Committee is considering adding a new tax to its revenue bill in order to pay ambulance services more money. The committee, which writes taxes for the Legislature, took testimony Friday on a proposal to impose a 3.3 percent tax on all of Vermont's 79 ambulance providers.
The committee, which writes taxes for the Legislature, took testimony Friday on a proposal to impose a 3.3 percent tax on all of Vermont’s 79 ambulance providers. It would be assessed on their revenue from patient care.
Under the current plan, the Department of Vermont Health Access, which acts like an insurance company that facilitates Vermont’s Medicaid program, would collect about $1.2 million from the ambulance providers, according to estimates from the Joint Fiscal Office.
The state would use the revenue to draw down federal money to roughly double that amount. The Department of Vermont Health Access would then use the revenue to increase how much Vermont’s Medicaid program pays ambulance providers for treating Medicaid patients.