Advocacy

The AAA continues to press the Congress and federal agencies for help to ensure ambulance service organizations and our paramedics and EMTs have the necessary resources and financial assistance to serve their communities.

Help support the AAA’s efforts by contacting your members of Congress today asking them to increase and extend our temporary Medicare add-on payments, which are set to expire at the end of this year:

535 Plan

American Ambulance Association President, Jamie Pafford-Gresham, places great value on fostering meaningful relationships with lawmakers and their staff. She is committed to ensuring AAA establishes a presence in every Congressional office, with the goal of AAA members meeting with all 535 offices during the 119th Congress. AAA seeks to educate policymakers on the challenges and opportunities facing EMS and mobile healthcare, ensuring that our issues remain top-of-mind as legislation progresses. By building these relationships and maintaining open lines of communication, we believe we can drive impactful policy changes that will support the growth, sustainability, and effectiveness of mobile healthcare.

AAA members can now self-report their Congressional meetings to help us make progress toward this goal!

Log Congressional Meeting

2025 AAA Advocacy Priorities

Medicare Ambulance Relief

The AAA was successful in advocating for the inclusion of our Medicare extenders in the Continuing Resolution signed by President Trump on March 15th, which funds the federal government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30th. The Ambulance Medicare Add-On Payments are included in the CR at their current perecentages (2% urban, 3% rural, 22.6% super rural bonus payment) with an expiration date of September 30th. The AAA is currently working to introduce legislation which would extend the add-on payments for a longer period of time and at increased percentages or “plus-ups” in the Senate version of the bill.

EMS Workforce Shortage

With the persistent shortage of ground ambulance service field personnel raising to a crisis level, the AAA has moved the issue to being a top policy priority. In November of 2023 Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez (D-WA) and Congressman Brad Finstad (R-MN) introduced H.R 6433, The Preserve Access to Rapid Ambulance Emergency Medical Treatment Act (PARA-EMT Act). This important legislation addresses the critical workforce shortage facing EMS organizations throughout the country by creating an EMS workforce grant training program, assisting combat medics entering the civilian workforce by providing grants to states, and conducting a study of the EMS workforce shortage and of the training and education programs needed to meet projected demand in the next decade. The AAA is working to reintroduce the Workforce legislation in the 119th Congress.

2024 EMS Shortage One-Pager

Balance Billing

The AAA successfully educated the Congress on the role of local government oversight and other unique characteristics of providing ground ambulance service organizations. As a result, the Congress directed the establishment of a Ground Ambulance and Balance Billing Advisory Committee to address the issue. The committee has concluded their work and submitted their report and recommendations on ground ambulance balance billing to the US Congress. The American Ambulance Association will continue to work with key committee members to advocate that Congress implement policies that meet the needs of our members.

One-Pager on Balance Billing

We will keep you posted of new developments. Thank you for your continued support of the American Ambulance Association.

The American Ambulance Association invites you to become involved with our efforts on Capitol Hill. It is thanks to our member’s contributions, both time and resources, that we are able to have such a strong influence with federal legislators. The efforts of the AAA’s legislative team and our members have given our industry nearly $2 billion in desperately needed Medicare relief over the last 12 years. Become a member today and join this important work.

State EMS Snap Shots

The AAA has put together a unique state-level leave-behind for each state. These documents provide a general overview of EMS to assist in our efforts to educate lawmakers about the challenges affiliated with the services provided by our members. Please feel free to share these documents and utilize them in your advocacy efforts!

If you do not see your state’s snapshot it is because we are working to confirm the data. Please email bmergendahl@ambulance.org for assistance.