New SNF PPS Edits Highlight the Importance of Facility Agreements

On April 1, 2019, CMS implemented a new series of Common Working File (CWF) edits that are intended to better identify ground ambulance transports that are furnished in connection with an outpatient hospital service that is properly bundled to the skilled nursing facility (SNF) under the SNF Consolidated Billing regime. These edits work by comparing...

Member Update on Balance Billing

This morning Ruth Hazdovac and Aidan Camas of AAA staff and Kathy Lester, Esq, Healthcare Consultant to the AAA attended a briefing held by the House Energy & Commerce Committee on the issue of surprise/balance billing. At the briefing, staff for Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR) announced that they...

EMS Week Activity Survey

EMS Week is May 19-25, 2019. The AAA wants to know how your organization is celebrating  this year! Please let us know what your organization has planned. Also, please be sure to tag the AAA is your EMS Week social media posts so we can "like" and "share" what your organization is doing! The best...

EEO-1 Reporting Requirement Update

In February the American Ambulance Association (AAA) alerted members that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) had announced that it has postponed the opening of EEO-1 data reporting until early March and also extended the deadline for employers to submit their EEO-1 data until May 31, 2019.  Each year, certain federal contractors and employers...

President's Perspective April 2019

Aarron Reinert
President,  AAA Dear Fellow AAA Members, Spring is in full bloom in Washington, D.C., and the American Ambulance Association is hard at work in our nation's capital advocating for mobile healthcare providers. I am pleased to share with you several updates from your association. Advocacy Progress The AAA continues to forge ahead...

Empress Ambulance Service, PatientCare Logistics Solutions Team to Deliver Critical Ambulance and Healthcare Logistics Services in Greater New York  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media contact: Stephen Brown, Cookerly PR 404-419-9224 stephen@cookerly.com Empress Ambulance Service, PatientCare Logistics Solutions Team to Deliver Critical Ambulance and Healthcare Logistics Services in Greater New York    Leading EMS provider in the Tri-State Region to leverage PatientCare’s nationwide scale and resources to extend customer service tradition more than three decades strong   Tyler, Texas...

Workforce Task Force & CAAS GVS Alternate Appointee

The American Ambulance Association seeks volunteers to apply to participate in several capacities, including the NEW Workforce Task Force and as an alternate liaison to the CAAS Ground Vehicle Standards organization. If interested, please complete the form below to submit your application. Selected individuals will be notified by email by June 1. Thank you for...

RFP: Cost Collection SME/Project Director

Request for Proposals: Subject Matter Expert (SME)/ Project Director Ambulance Cost Data Collection Due April 20, 2019 Overview The American Ambulance Association (AAA) invites proposals from qualified interested parties (individual and teams) for the purpose of directing the Ambulance Cost Data Project as a Subject Matter Expert (SME). Introduction As part of the extension of the Ambulance Medicare Add on payments,...

Summary of March 28, 2019 Ambulance ODF

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) held its latest Open Door Forum on Wednesday, March 28, 2019.  As with past Open Door Forums, CMS started the call with the following announcements: Ambulance Cost Data Collection – CMS reminded the industry that the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, enacted on February 9, 2018,...

The Paycheck Fairness Act

Following many states that have enacted laws geared towards preventing or eliminating inequities in pay between men and women, The Paycheck Fairness Act which was introduced on March 27, 2019, will prohibit employers from asking job applicants about their salary histories or using those histories to base pay or compensation rates.  The Act would...

New Parents Act Introduced to Provide for Paid Family Leave

On March 27, 2019, Senator Marco Rubio (FL) and Mitt Romney (UT) introduced the New Parents Act which would provide paid parental leave for up to three months by permitting new parents to tap into future Social Security Benefits by either delaying or reducing those benefits later in life.  The Bill also permits new...

UPDATED: CMS Open Door Forum - Thursday, March 28

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has scheduled its next Ambulance Open Door Forum for Thursday, March 28 at 2:00 PM Eastern. If you plan to attend, please dial in at least 15 minutes before the call. CMS Ambulance Open Door Forum March 28 | 2:00 PM ET Participant Dial-In Number:  1-800-837-1935 Conference ID #: 6695896 Questions? Have more questions? The AAA is...

HHS OIG Issues Advisory Opinion on Community Paramedicine

HHS OIG Issues Advisory Opinion Permitting Community Paramedicine Program Designed to Limit Hospital Readmissions On March 6, 2019, the HHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) posted OIG Advisory Opinion 19-03. The opinion related to free, in-home follow-up care offered by a hospital to eligible patients for the purpose of reducing hospital admissions or readmissions. The...

Update on New SNF Edits

CMS Set to Implement New Common Working File Edits to Identify Ambulance Services Provided in Connection with Outpatient Hospital Services that should be bundled to the SNF under Consolidated Billing. In a Member Advisory issued last week, the AAA provided an update on a series of new Common Working File (CWF) edits intended to identify...

CMS SNF Edits Go Into Effect - April 1, 2019

CMS Set to Implement New Common Working File Edits to Identify Ambulance Services Provided in Connection with Outpatient Hospital Services that should be bundled to the SNF under Consolidated Billing On November 2, 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued Transmittal 2176 (Change Request 10955), which would establish a new series of...