Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a)
All non-emergency medical transportation services shall be provided by an
independent transportation broker under contract with the Department of Human
Services. These services may include, but are not limited to:
1. Ground ambulance service
(non-emergency);
2. Mobility
assistance vehicle service;
3.
Livery services, including modified livery services;
4. All lower-mode transportation services,
including arranging for transportation by taxi, train, bus, plane, other public
conveyance, or mileage reimbursement for the use of an individual's vehicle;
and
5. Fixed wing air
transportation services.
(b) All emergency ground transportation
services and all rotary wing air ambulance services are provided by independent
transportation providers enrolled in accordance with
N.J.A.C.
10:49-3.2 and this chapter.
1. For beneficiaries enrolled in managed
care, all emergency transports, including ground and rotary wing air
transports, as well as their associated loaded mileage costs, shall be the
responsibility of the managed care organization.
(c) Ground ambulance service is a covered
service under the following conditions:
1.
When such service is not free and available in the community;
2. When the service is the least expensive
mode of transportation suitable to the individual's needs, as indicated in
N.J.A.C. 10:50-1.6(a);
3. When the
service is provided as specified in the rules of DOH at N.J.A.C. 8:40 or 8:41,
as applicable;
4. When the use of
any other method of transportation is medically contraindicated;
5. The ambulance crew shall comply with the
duties of staff as specified in New Jersey State Department of Health and
Senior Services rule N.J.A.C. 8:40-6.4;
6. Hospital-based Mobile Intensive Care
Unit/Advanced Life Support (MICU/ALS) service and associated Ambulance/Basic
Life Support (Ambulance/BLS) service are reimbursable by the Medicaid/NJ
FamilyCare fee-for-service program only when billed on a single claim by the
hospital providing the MICU/ALS service. Transportation companies providing the
Ambulance/BLS service associated with a MICU/ALS run shall bill the hospital
providing the MICU/ALS service and shall not bill the Medicaid/NJ FamilyCare
program directly for this service.
i. A
non-hospital-based MICU/ALS services provider acting on behalf of a hospital or
consortium to provide MICU/ALS services to Medicaid/NJ FamilyCare beneficiaries
may bill the Medicaid/NJ FamilyCare program directly for this service if the
entity has received a Certificate of Need approval and has been licensed by DOH
as an MICU/ALS service provider in accordance with N.J.A.C. 8:41-2. Existing
prohibitions on additional reimbursement to nursing homes for such services and
on reimbursement for services provided by volunteer ambulance organizations and
existing provisions regarding Ambulance/BLS services remain intact. See
N.J.A.C.
10:50-1.6(k) and
10:52-2.16(b)3.
7. The Division will pay, on
behalf of eligible Medicaid/NJ FamilyCare beneficiaries who are also eligible
for Medicare, the full amount of any Medicare deductible and coinsurance costs
for covered MICU/ALS and Ambulance/BLS services provided to such beneficiaries.
Code A0434 shall be used when submitting claims for such ambulance specialty
care transport services. See
N.J.A.C.
10:50-2.2(a).
(d) An air ambulance (fixed wing or rotary
wing), under extenuating circumstances, may be used as a carrier to transport
the sick, injured, or disabled Medicaid/NJ FamilyCare fee-for-service
beneficiary.
1. The service is restricted to
the emergency condition where transportation by air is medically considered the
only acceptable form of travel and the conditions are such that its utilization
is feasible. The Division retains the option to utilize this form of
transportation in such situations where, at the program's discretion, it could
represent a significant cost savings when compared to ground ambulance or
mobility assistance vehicle service involving trips covering similarly long
distances.
i. For fee-for-service
beneficiaries needing rotary wing air ambulance services, these services shall
be provided by independent air ambulance providers.
ii. For fee-for-service beneficiaries needing
fixed wing air ambulance services, the air ambulance service shall be arranged
through the transportation broker but reimbursed fee-for-service.
2. The service shall be provided
as specified in the rules of DOH at N.J.A.C. 8:41, Advanced Life Support
Services, Mobile Intensive Care Programs, Specialty Care Transport Services,
and Air Medical Services.