How will this crisis impact me?
Unless immediate changes to the emergency response system in New Jersey are made, you may not have access to advanced life saving Paramedics in an emergency.
Every second of an emergency counts. Paramedic services help ensure quality, advanced pre-hospital care to stabilize patients as early as possible. Beginning advanced care and starting dialogue with the hospital before a patient reaches the trauma center or emergency room is crucial to save lives and increase a patient’s chance of recovery.
Some areas of the state are already unable to receive Paramedic services, and availability will continue to decline unless immediate changes are made. In other cases, where Paramedic services are still available, the Paramedic provider is being forced in some cases to directly bill Medicare patients for their services because of Medicare’s ‘single billing’ rule.
Alarming statistics show that seniors on fixed incomes worry about unexpected expenses; they are less likely to dial 911 when they are afraid of being billed for Paramedic services. New Jerseyans should not let their anxiety about costs prevent them from accessing life-saving medical attention.
