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BACKUS - The Longville Ambulance Service will be among medical service providers to lose funding if Congress fails to postpone this year the pending Medicare-provided payment cuts.

Congress has postponed those cuts more than once in the past.

Gary Pearson, North Ambulance Service, which operates Longville and several other area ambulance service areas under contract, informed Cass County commissioners Tuesday the cuts could have an impact on the 2011 budget.

More sparsely populated rural areas have been receiving a 10 percent premium over the base Medicare ambulance service reimbursement for transporting patients. Extra rural areas like Longville have received 23 a percent premium. Both premium payments will be eliminated, he said.

Pearson estimated about half the people using Longville Ambulance Service are insured by Medicare.[[In-content Ad]]

This year, the service has transported 175 patients to area hospitals the first nine months, up from 170 in 2009, but four less than the budget projected the first of the year. The service has managed to hold down expenses, so profit margin through September ran 12.4 percent or 2.4 percent more than the service's goal.

The highest number of patients (65) were transported to Essentia Health Service's St. Joseph Medical Center in Brainerd so far this year, followed by Crosby Hospital (49), Deer River (14), North Country Regional Hospital at Bemidji (13). Smaller numbers of patients chose hospitals in Cass Lake, Grand Rapids and Park Rapids. Seven people were flown by medical helicopter.

Second publication rights after Brainerd Dispatch.

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