Michigan ambulance providers: We were shorted $6M. Service may suffer

• Michigan’s EMS providers are sounding alarms on up to $6 million in unpaid bills for state prison runs
• Providers say a state contractor hasn’t paid for two years. They’re asking state lawmakers to pay them instead
• Without help, providers warn they may have to scale back, delay local ambulance services

LANSING — Michigan ambulance providers are warning they may have to scale back local services because a state vendor has refused to pay them up to $6 million for visits to Michigan prisons in the past two years. 

State lawmakers should pay off those bills instead to ensure ambulances are available in their local communities, providers argued Thursday in a Michigan House budget subcommittee hearing. 

“This isn’t some request for additional funding,” said Jeff White, chief of Richmond Lenox EMS in Macomb County. “What this simply is, is us saying we provide a service and we need to be paid for that service. … Give your local heroes, your local lifesavers, help. Please.”

At issue are ambulance costs that were supposed to be paid by Wellpath, a Tennessee-based company the Michigan Department of Corrections had contracted with for inmate health care services.

The company was meant to reimburse ambulance providers for calls to Michigan’s prisons. However, officials say the company abruptly stopped communicating with EMS providers across the state nearly two years ago and has yet to pay between $4 and $6 million in bills. 

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As a result, Richmond Lenox EMS is still awaiting reimbursement for nearly $133,800 worth of medical care, according to White. Other providers, like Jackson Community EMS, are owed $630,179.

Emergent Health Partners CEO Ron Slagel, whose nonprofit operates six ambulance services in 14 counties across southern Michigan, including Jackson, said he has already had to cancel contracts to replace medical equipment because of the unpaid bills.

Should this drag on longer, “we’re going to have to delay or reduce increases in pay to our staff at a time when it’s critical that we address the staffing shortage,” he told lawmakers. 

Wellpath, one of the country's largest for-profit health care providers for prisons, did not return a request for comment on this story.

The organization once worked as the go-between for EMS providers and MDOC, reimbursing the former for services provided to inmates, until the department cut ties with Wellpath in April 2024. 

MDOC officials now say they’re suing Wellpath and another company that provides medical care for prisoners, Grand Prairie Healthcare Services.

Kyle Kaminski, MDOC’s legislative liaison, told lawmakers he could not discuss the matter in detail due to ongoing litigation. But he said the state had paid the companies more than $350 million — some of which did not make it into the hands of its subcontractors, like these EMS providers.

“This is not a question of Grand Prairie/Wellpath not having received funds,” Kaminski said. “It’s a question of what Grand Prairie/Wellpath has done with those funds since receiving them from the state.”

Angela Madden, executive director of the Michigan Association of Ambulance Services, told lawmakers that Wellpath abruptly stopped reimbursing them for prison runs about two years ago without reason. 

The company has since stopped answering emails and phone calls from EMS providers about the unpaid bills, she said, putting her members out at least $4 million.

The total unpaid bills are likely closer to $6 million, Madden added, noting her organization represents about 100 EMS agencies that service about 80% of the state. 

With the state health code requiring emergency medical service to respond to every emergency, including those made by Michigan’s prisons, not providing care to MDOC inmates until the reimbursement comes through isn’t an option, said Russ Adams, with Lapeer County EMS. 

His organization has the 10th highest outstanding reimbursement rate of all their members at nearly $138,000, according to the Association of Ambulance Services.

“My organization exists because of a millage — 60% of our operating costs are provided by millage dollars, 40% come into our organization through reimbursements,” he said. “This needs to be a real dollar value to a real community and understand the impact. This is not a handout.”