(Sacramento,CA) 11 Members of the California State Legislature are calling on the State of California to increase Medi-Cal base rates for ambulance transports.

In a letter addressed to Senate Budget Chair Susan Talamantes Eggman and Assembly Budget Chair Joaquin Arambula, members asked for a rate of $350 to ensure that California providers can offer sustainable living wages to new recruits and increase wages for current employees.

Assemblymember Freddie Rodriguez, Senator Connie Leyva, Senator Melissa Hurtado, Assemblymember James Ramos, Assemblymember Adam Gray, Senator Bill Dodd, Assemblymember Timothy Grayson, Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, Assemblymember Bill Quirk, Senator Bob Archuleta and Assemblymember Blanca Rubio now join thousands of residents throughout California who are calling on the state to address a two-decades long oversight.

California has not funded a Medi-Cal increase for ambulance services since 1999. Decades of below cost Medi-Cal reimbursement, combined with Medi-Cal expansion, threatens to cripple California’s ability to recruit and retain qualified emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics.

Read the letter below.