10/08/2026
🚑 NEW JERSEY EMS IS RUNNING OUT OF TIME
Today, the average price of diesel in New Jersey is approximately $6.33 per gallon. AAA Fuel Prices
It costs us roughly $250 just to fill one ambulance with diesel.
Meanwhile, New Jersey Medicaid’s base reimbursement for a BLS emergency ambulance transport is still only $58.
Think about that.
Five Medicaid emergency ambulance transports generate just $290 in base reimbursement.
That barely pays for ONE tank of diesel.
And we haven’t paid:
• The EMT crew
• Workers’ compensation
• Commercial ambulance insurance
• Vehicle payments
• Maintenance and repairs
• Tires
• Oxygen and medical supplies
• Dispatch
• Billing and administrative costs
• Training and regulatory compliance
So how many $58 emergency calls does an ambulance need to run just to cover the actual cost of staying available?
According to the Medical Transportation Association of New Jersey, this $58 Medicaid emergency ambulance rate has not been increased since 1994. MTANJ
That was more than 30 years ago.
Diesel, wages, insurance, ambulances, maintenance and medical supplies certainly have not remained at 1994 prices.
Ambulance providers cannot simply raise our prices when our expenses go up. Medicaid determines what providers are paid.
We are being asked to provide a 2026 emergency medical service with a reimbursement rate that dates back decades.
Senate Bill S1774, sponsored by Senator Troy Singleton and Senator Joseph Vitale, would establish a minimum Medicaid reimbursement of $300 for a BLS emergency ambulance transport, instead of the current $58 base rate. New Jersey Legislature
This is not about making ambulance companies rich.
This is about making sure there is still an ambulance available when you, your parent, your child or your neighbor calls for help.
We are asking our community, healthcare partners, EMTs, families and fellow EMS providers to make their voices heard.
📞 Please contact Senator Carmen Amato and ask him to support S1774 and help move this legislation forward.
📞 Please contact Senator Troy Singleton and thank him for sponsoring S1774 — and encourage him to continue fighting to move this legislation forward.
Contact your own State Senator and Assembly representatives as well and tell them:
SUPPORT S1774.
New Jersey EMS cannot continue indefinitely on a $58 emergency reimbursement rate.
Five emergency transports just to put diesel in the tank is not sustainable.
We are on borrowed time.
Please share this post. The public needs to understand what is happening to EMS before ambulance availability becomes the next emergency.
