The American Ambulance Association (AAA) is pleased to announce that Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-NY-01) and Congressman Thomas Suozzi (D-NY-03) have introduced H.R. 2887, the “Emergency Medical Services Providers Protection Act.” This piece of legislation would extend the Public Safety Officers’ Benefit (PSOB) to cover first responders who work for private providers. The PSOB Program provides death and education benefits to survivors of fallen law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other first responders, and disability benefits to officers catastrophically injured in the line of duty.

The AAA has advocated tirelessly for years that all first responders killed in the line of duty, should be eligible for this benefit regardless of who their employer is. Many of the nation’s first responders work for more than one EMS Agency. Local communities throughout the country decide which organization is best fit to provide high quality mobile healthcare to their community. For large parts of the country, privately run ambulance services have been providing high quality health care, and responding to the same natural disasters, incidents, etc. as their peers for decades.

It is common for Paramedics and EMTs to also work/volunteer as firefighters and vice versa. Currently, if a line of duty death occurs, whether first responders receive this benefit depends on which uniform they were wearing that day. A firefighter picking up an extra shift with a local ambulance service could end up being ineligible for this benefit if that company happens to be privately run. The AAA believes this legislation acknowledges the vital role that all first responders play in keeping our communities safe and healthy. If passed, this change would apply to injuries sustained on or after March 1, 2007.

The AAA thanks Congressman Zeldin and Suozzi for taking the lead on this critical issue. AAA members are encouraged to contact their representatives about co-sponsoring H.R. 2887. Full text of the Bill is not yet available online but can be read here. Please contact the AAA’s Government Affairs team if you have any questions.

Questions? Contact Us

If you have questions about the discussion draft or balance billing initiatives being undertaken by the AAA, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the AAA Government Affairs Team.

Tristan North – Senior Vice President of Government Affairs
tnorth@ambulance.org | (202) 802-9025

Ruth Hazdovac – AAA Senior Manager of Federal Government Affairs
rhazdovac@ambulance.org | (202) 802-9027

Aidan Camas – Manager of State & Federal Government Affairs
acamas@ambulance.org | (202) 802-9026

Thank you for your continued membership and support.