Availability of Emergency Medical Services

Plain English: This amendment adds new rules to adjust state funding for Medicaid and provides a specific budget amount for the health department in the 2026-27 fiscal year.

• It reduces the general fund money given to the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing by $548,547 if federal funds drop as expected.
• It lowers a specific hospital fee cash fund appropriation for Medicaid services by $124,822 under the same conditions.
• It sets aside $26,353 from the general fund to help the Department of Public Health and Environment run its health facilities and emergency medical services division.

• The funding cuts only happen if federal money for Medicaid decreases by exactly $1,458,735.
• No reduction is required if the original budget amount was already smaller than the cut or if no appropriation exists in the final law.

Plain English: This amendment removes the original definition of 'first responder' from the bill and instead adds a new legal definition for what counts as a health information organization network.

• Removes all text that defined who is considered a first responder, such as police officers or firefighters.
• Adds Section 8 to create a specific meaning for 'health information organization network' in state law.

• The amendment does not explain what the new definition of 'first responder' will be if one is added later, since it only deletes the old text.
• The exact rules for a health information organization are found in another section of state law (25-3.5-103) which is not included here.

Plain English: This amendment updates the bill to allow emergency medical providers to transport patients directly to crisis stabilization units instead of hospitals under specific conditions and clarifies what counts as out-of-hospital services.

• Allows ambulances to take a patient to a crisis stabilization unit if they meet approved health criteria, rather than always going to a hospital.
• Requires emergency providers to charge insurance companies the basic life support rate when transporting patients to these alternative locations.
• Renames 'Community Integrated Health-Care' agencies to 'agencies providing out-of-hospital services'.
• Defines 'out-of-hospital services' as care given outside a hospital for emergencies, but explicitly excludes simple transport trips.

• The amendment text does not explain the specific details of what makes up the 'clinically validated criteria' needed to send patients to crisis units.
• Some parts of the original bill were removed or replaced without showing exactly how they changed, so only the new wording is explained.

Plain English: This amendment removes references to 'community integrated health-care service agencies' from the bill and replaces them with a new definition for 'agencies providing out-of-hospital services.'

• The text deletes all mentions of community integrated health-care service agencies.
• It adds a specific definition stating that out-of-hospital services include goods and care given outside hospitals to treat illness, injury, or substance use disorders during emergencies.
• The new definition clarifies that these services do not cover transporting patients before they reach the hospital.

• Because this amendment only lists specific lines to strike and replace without showing the full original text, some surrounding context about how these changes fit into the whole bill is missing.
• The exact legal impact on which organizations qualify as first responders depends on other parts of the law not included in this summary.

Plain English: This amendment removes several sections from the bill that were intended to define who counts as a first responder.

• Deletes lines on page 10 and page 11 of the original bill text.
• Removes the specific list defining peace officers, firefighters, medical providers, and mental health professionals as first responders.

• The official amendment text only shows which parts are deleted but does not include the full wording of what was removed to explain exactly how 'first responder' would have been defined.
• It is unclear if any new definition for first responders will be added in a future version since this change removes existing language.

Plain English: This amendment removes several sections of the bill that defined who counts as a first responder, but it keeps one small change to how decisions are made.

• Removes the list defining 'first responders' to include peace officers, firefighters, emergency medical providers, and mental health professionals.
• Deletes three full pages of text from the bill that contained these definitions.

• The amendment only shows which lines are deleted or changed; it does not provide the new wording for most parts because they were removed entirely.
• It is unclear if any other changes to the definition of 'first responder' will be made in future versions since this text was struck.

Plain English: This amendment changes how emergency medical rules are made by removing a hospital's role in the process and giving an advisory council the power to suggest new rules instead of approving them.

• Removes 'an agency providing out-of-hospital services' from the list of groups involved, leaving only hospitals mentioned in that specific section.
• Changes the Emergency Medical and Trauma Services Advisory Council's job so it makes recommendations on new emergency medical rules instead of reviewing and approving them before they are adopted.
• Officially classifies the State Emergency Medical and Trauma Services Advisory Council as a 'Type 2 Entity' under state law.

• The amendment text refers to specific page numbers in a committee report that is not included here, so some context about what was originally on those pages is missing.
• It does not explain exactly how the removal of 'out-of-hospital services' affects other parts of the bill or who will handle those duties now.