City of Chicago
Emergency Medical Transportation
Exact amount: $124,725,187.00
Calendar year 2026
What this line is: the City's budget documents do not say. It is a Finance General line, not part of the Fire Department, and it is about 16 times what the ambulance billing company was paid in 2025, so it is not a billing contract. It grew from $77.4 million (2021 and 2022) to about $125 million (2024 to 2026) after Chicago joined the Illinois ambulance supplement (GEMT) program in 2020. Under that program the City must send the State half of the extra Medicaid money. That fits this line, but no City document confirms it, so treat it as our reading and ask the Office of Budget and Management. The budget book does not split the line, and the City says it is spent as ambulance-related payments 'as specified'.
The budget does not say what this line pays for. It is listed under Finance General as 'purposes as specified' and has stayed near $125 million since 2024. Our best guess is a payment to the State linked to the ambulance Medicaid program, but no City document confirms it, so treat the use as unconfirmed.
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