Take Action for Permanent Medicare Ambulance Relief

Ask your Senators and Representatives to Support Medicare Ambulance Relief!

The temporary Medicare ambulance increases of 2% urban, 3% rural and 22.6% to the base rate in super rural areas are scheduled to expire on December 31 of this year. That is just one month away! Please write your members of Congress today in support of a 5-year extension of the increases.

Writing to your members of Congress only takes 2 clicks, follow these simple steps:

1. Enter contact information below (required by Congressional offices) and click “Submit”
2. On the next page you’ll see the letter to your Representative (Message 1) and the letter(s) to your Senators  (Message 2) – click “Submit Messages”
Feel free to personalize your letter(s) before submitting them.

Over the past 15 years, the AAA has lead efforts on Capitol Hill to establish the increases and ensure they do not expire.  Thanks to the work of our champions and supporters on Capitol Hill, there are provisions in both the House and Senate for a five-year extension of the Medicare ambulance increases.  However, passage of these provisions is in no way certain.  Your members of Congress need to hear that the 5-year extension is important to you!

In addition, the Congress is considering ways to collect Medicare cost data from ambulance service suppliers and providers.  The Senate version, which the AAA prefers, would require a statistically significant sampling of ambulance service suppliers and providers and would provide CMS with significant flexibility on how the system would be designed.  The House version would require all ambulance service suppliers and providers to submit an annual “cost report” which would be subject to a strict financial penalty for not providing timely as well as full data.  We continue to push for changes to the House version and there has been some confusion in the industry about these two provisions.  The bottom-line is that any collection of cost data needs to be tailored to meet the unique needs of ambulance services.

Members of Congress need to hear from you today!  Tell your Senators to support a five-year extension of the Medicare ambulance increases and to cosponsor S. 967.  Tell your Representatives to support a five-year extension of the Medicare ambulance increases and request revisions to cost reporting requirements.