President's Perspective January 2019

Dear Fellow AAA Members, Happy New Year from the American Ambulance Association! We enter this new year ready to rise together as an industry to face the mobile healthcare’s challenges and opportunities. Advocacy Update The AAA worked hard in the 115th Congress to achieve many legislative and regulatory wins for the industry. Thanks to the AAA Board,...

2019 Annual Call for Presentations

The American Ambulance Association Annual Conference & Trade Show is continuously one of the largest inclusive gatherings of ambulance and pre-hospital care leaders, and features distinct tracks for Reimbursement and Policy, Human Resources and Operations, Government Affairs, and Executive Leadership. Our primary focus is to provide critical information that both new and established ambulance services may utilize...

Update on HHS OIG Reports on Ambulance Services

Update on HHS Office of the Inspector General Reports on Ambulance Services The HHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released an update to the Work Plan as the year comes to a close.  There are no new projects specific to ambulance services, but the update does provide a summary of three projects that have...

Congress Passes SIREN Act

On December 12, 2018, Congress passed the 2018 Farm Bill (S. 3042) by a 386-47 vote in the House and 87 – 13 vote in the Senate. Included in the final Bill was language similar to the SIREN Act (S. 2830, H.R. 5429) to reauthorize the Rural EMS Grant program. In an effort to ensure...

Federal District Court Judge Strikes Down the ACA

On December 14, 2018, a federal district court judge for the Northern District of Texas issued a ruling striking down the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on the grounds that the Individual Mandate was unconstitutional, and that the rest of the law cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny without the Individual Mandate. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor’s decision...

HHS Releases Communication Checklist to Aid First Responders

HHS Releases Checklist to Aid First Responders in Communicating Effectively with Patients The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has released a plain language checklist that is intended to aid First Responders during emergencies that involve individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and communications related disabilities. The AAA...

CMS Posts 2019 Public Use File

On November 28, 2018, CMS posted the 2019 Ambulance Fee Schedule Public Use Files. These files contain the amounts that will be allowed by Medicare in calendar year 2019 for the various levels of ambulance service and mileage. These allowables reflect a 2.3% inflation adjustment over the 2018 rates. The 2019 Ambulance Fee Schedule Public...

CMS Announces 2019 Ambulance Inflation Factor

On November 30, 2018, CMS issued Transmittal 4172 (Change Request 11031), which announced the Medicare Ambulance Inflation Factor (AIF) for calendar year 2019. The AIF is calculated by measuring the increase in the consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) for the 12-month period ending with June of the previous year. Starting in calendar...

CMS Announces Extension of Prior Authorization Program

On November 30, 2018, CMS issued a notice on its website that it would be extending the prior authorization demonstration project for another year. The extension is limited to those states where prior authorization was in effect for calendar year 2018. The affected states are Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,...

Senate Introduces NEATSA Act Companion Bill (S. 3619)

Earlier this year, Congress included in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 an offset to go along with the extension of the add-ons that will cut reimbursement for BLS nonemergency transports to and from dialysis centers by an additional 13%. This will be on top of the existing 10% reduction. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and...

Rural Health Day Advocacy Update

Happy National Rural Health Day! Thank you to all of the ambulance service providers who work hard providing life-saving treatment in rural areas every day. In part of our ongoing advocacy efforts, the AAA sent a letter today to the Rural Caucuses in the United States Senate and House of Representatives. Addressed to leadership of...

Final Rules Expand Exemption from ACA’s Contraceptive Mandate

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued two final rules earlier this month that will exempt certain entities from having to provide contraceptive coverage in their group health plans on the basis of religious or moral grounds. These rules extend the exemption that is already in place for worship or faith-based...

Wisconsin Office of Rural Health Interview

In honor of today's National Rural Health Day, the American Ambulance Association interviewed John Eich, Director of the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health. The transcript below was lightly edited for clarity. Amanda Riordan: Thank you for joining us today. My name is Amanda Riordan, and I am the vice president of member services for the American...

Mid-Term Election Analysis Webinar

Join AAA Government Affairs Committee Chair, Jamie Pafford-Gresham, AAA SVP of Government Affairs, Tristan North, AAA Senior Manager of Federal Affairs, Ruth Hazdovac, and Manager of State & Federal Government Affairs, Aidan Camas, as they provide a brief re-cap of the recent mid-term elections. This pre-recorded webinar provides an update on federal and state...

Request for Proposals—SME/Project Director

American Ambulance Association Request for Proposals SME/ Project Director Ambulance Cost Data Collection November 2018 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, legislation passed on...