Paul Taylor has been working in the medical field for 36 years. He’s the president of AmCare Ambulance, carrying on his family’s business.

“We do 1,000 miles per vehicle, per week, and we have eight vehicles," Taylor said.

He said things are very different for ambulance organizations now compared to years ago.

“We have an increased Medicaid population and the reimbursement for Medicaid has not gone up adequately," he said. "And the cost of supplies has gone up dramatically. The cost of health care has gone up dramatically. Vehicles, medicines, everything. Salaries, wages, everything is going up. But the reimbursement from the health care industry, or from the insurances, has not kept pace with that.”

Legislatively, there’s not much that can be done to help right now, he said. However, one bill could provide a lot of relief.

Taylor recently stood alongside other ambulance service providers and state and local leaders in support of what’s known as “direct pay legislation.”

“When we get called, we go. We never ask what the insurance is, or even if they have insurance. We go. We take care of the patient. That's what we do,” said Taylor.

The legislation would make it so ambulance service providers would be paid directly by health insurers. As it stands, patients can receive insurance checks meant for ambulance agencies, but patients often keep the money for themselves.

“The primary effect of the legislation is to have the payments, the allowable payments, sent directly to the provider," Taylor said. "The secondary effect of that will be that we will have the ability to negotiate with the providers and with the insurance providers for a fair and reasonable reimbursement based upon the costs of the care that we actually give.”

The bill has passed in the state Senate and Assembly. The next step is for the governor to consider taking action.