Jan. 18—The cost of an ambulance ride from the state’s largest medical provider would nearly double if New Mexico regulators approve a rate increase proposed by a nonprofit arm of Presbyterian Healthcare Services.
A hearing for Albuquerque Ambulance Service’s request to significantly increase many of the rates it charges for patient transport is scheduled April 15 before the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission.
The company operates ambulances services not just in Albuquerque but throughout the region, including in Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Sandoval counties.
If the rate increase goes into effect, the average cost of an ambulance ride — or a patient’s pre-hospital bill — would increase by about 88% to $1,393.99, according to the company’s application with the commission.
Along with doubling charges for some of its services, the company wants to increase its per-mile fee to $13.75 from $11.
In the rate case application, executives of the ambulance company cite a need for the increases due to operating losses in recent years amid rising costs for equipment and personnel, along with rates that have remained unchanged since 2014.
Presbyterian spokeswoman Alyssa Armijo provided a statement to The New Mexican on behalf of the company’s chief, Julia Heinz, that said the company “continues to see higher supply and labor costs.”
“Due to these higher costs, we submitted a request to the Public Regulation Commission asking for an increase to our tariff rate, our first since 2014,” the statement said. “The increase would allow us to continue to invest in new equipment, provide competitive salaries for staff, and deliver critical care in Santa Fe and across the state.”
Heinz did not return a phone call seeking an interview. She and Armijo declined to immediately answer questions about the rate increase request.
The company is the highest-volume provider of emergency and nonemergency medical transportation services in the state.
Only 1.3% of Albuquerque Ambulance Service’s transport calls originated from Santa Fe County in 2022, according to the company’s application. Still, that amounted to 1,183 calls in the county.
The rates proposed by the company would be significantly higher than others in the region, such as ambulance rates approved by the Public Regulation Commission in 2021 for American Medical Response in Santa Fe.
American Medical Response charges a base rate of $400 for emergency transport with “basic life support.” That compares with Albuquerque Ambulance Service’s rate of $566.40. The company seeks to double that base rate to $1,132.80.
Albuquerque Ambulance Service operated at a deficit of almost $5 million in 2022, according to its rate case application, and Presbyterian Healthcare Services has subsidized more than $15 million in losses for the nonprofit since 2019.
Continuing to operate at a loss would mean insolvency for the ambulance company, Presbyterian Delivery System’s Chief Financial Officer Angela Pedroza wrote in testimony included in the application.
Months ago, the company requested an even higher rate increase.
The initial request submitted in August proposed hikes of about 175% to base rates. An amended application submitted earlier this month lowered the numbers.
The change came after an increase in Medicaid payments to health care providers from the New Mexico Human Services Department, according to the amended application. The higher Medicaid payments “would significantly reduce the operating losses of [Albuquerque Ambulance Service], thereby reducing the amount to the original tariff request,” Pedroza wrote in her testimony.
The percentage of the company’s patients who are covered by Medicaid has increased in recent years, to 37% in 2022, according to the application, and government payers overall accounted for about 79% of transports.
The state announced last fall an increase of $409 million overall in Medicaid reimbursement rates to health care providers, a move that was made retroactive to July 1.
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