Counties tell Senate DHS canceled EMT RFP; lawmakers consider postponing centralized rides rollout

County officials, committee staff and Department of Human Services representatives told the Senate Human Services Committee that the department canceled the request for proposals to create a single statewide non-emergency medical transportation (EMT) administrator.

The cancellation, attendees said, threatens a statutory transition timeline that would otherwise strip counties of contracting authority in three months. Western Prairie human services and county representatives urged the committee for a short statutory postponement and clarified language so counties can continue to deliver ancillary services (meals, parking reimbursements) that rural communities rely on for long-distance medical travel.

DHS told the committee it had paused EMT implementation while it reassessed program design and integrity safeguards after discussions in this and other committees. "We are currently reassessing," a DHS staffer said, adding the agency could reissue an RFP but had not yet decided.

Senators said counties need certainty and that the committee should provide a statutory backstop (a delayed effective date or placeholder language) to prevent a legal gap while DHS and counties revise the implementation plan.

Next steps: Senators withdrew an amendment pending technical work and asked DHS to return language that would postpone the statutory rollout and protect county-reimbursable ancillary services; staff and counties agreed to continue drafting before the bill moves to Finance.