Wilson County EMA moves funds to hire consultant for new federal ambulance-cost reporting

Wilson County EMA Committee members voted to move funds out of the equipment account and into a consulting line so the county can hire professionals to compile federal ambulance cost data now required by a new federal reporting rule. Committee members said the requirement is broad and poorly defined in its first year and that incorrect submissions could trigger significant financial penalties.

Randy, an EMA committee member, told the committee the federal cost-data collection effort is "quite vast and it's very not well defined" and cautioned against attempting the work in-house. He said doing it without professional help could expose the county to a 10% penalty; in the meeting he characterized the possible impact as in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars. "You can do it and hope it's right, and you run a risk of a 10% penalty," Randy said during the discussion.

Randy told the committee he had spoken with a firm identified in the packet as Apex360 and that a consultant there has direct consultation with an attorney involved in developing the federal program. The consultant and outside counsel, he said, have direct experience with the new requirement and could prepare the county's submission. Randy said he had sought additional bids but had not yet received other responses and that the amount to be transferred would fall below bid thresholds.

Unidentified Speaker 1 put the transfer to a vote; Unidentified Speaker 3 voiced assent and the chair declared the motion carried. The committee did not specify the final contract award or a consultant selection at the meeting; staff said the money would be reclassified internally to the consulting line so the county could proceed to hire a specialist to prepare the federally required cost report.

The committee flagged the work as time-sensitive because this is the first year of the requirement and because federal analysis of cost submissions could affect nationwide ambulance reimbursement rates if local data are inaccurate. The committee did not identify a contract amount or set a firm procurement timeline during the meeting.

The committee moved on to other business after the vote.