Opinion: Budget games with EMS are putting Medicaid and patients at risk

California’s finances are in crisis, and once again, political leaders are looking for a quick fix, no matter the cost to the most vulnerable. The latest scheme? San Diego’s much-hyped ambulance “alliance model,” which may sound innovative but in reality, exposes a dangerous trend: diverting critical Medicaid dollars away from improved patient care to patch up the city’s bloated budget.

Here’s what’s happening behind the scenes. For years, San Diego worked with private ambulance providers for EMS services, in order to ensure swift response times at a reasonable cost. This was a win for patients and taxpayers. But now the city has decided that the cost of private EMS was too low, so it fired those companies to increase those costs to taxpayers.

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