Register Now: FICEMS Meeting on December 6
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Prodigy Interview: Shawn Baird on GAPBAC
Recorded November 2023
Outside the US Capitol during 2023 Stars of Life, Prodigy’s Rob Lawrence caught up with American Ambulance Association Immediate Past President Shawn Baird. Shawn shared next steps following the last meeting of the Ground Ambulance Patient and Billing Advisory Committee.
Gluesenkamp Perez and Finstad Introduce EMS Workforce Shortage Bill
Yesterday, November 15, Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) and Congressman Brad Finstad (R-MN) introduced the Preserve Access to Rapid Ambulance Emergency Medical Treatment (PARA-EMT) Act (H.R. 6433). H.R. 6433 is the first broad, stand-alone piece of legislation specifically designed to focus solely on helping address the EMS workforce shortage.
“We greatly appreciate the leadership of Congresswoman Gluesenkamp Perez and Congressman Finstad on introducing this momentous legislation to assist with the hiring and retention of paramedics and EMTs,” stated AAA President Randy Strozyk. “We look forward to working with them on passage of the bill.”
H.R. 6433 would establish a pilot grant program under the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the recruitment and training of paramedics and EMTs. The grant program would be authorized from 2024 through 2028 with $50 million a year in funding.
The legislation would also provide states with funding to help facilitate and expedite the transition of medics coming out of military service with the requirements of becoming a civilian paramedic or EMT. The program would be authorized from 2024 through 2028 with $20 million a year in grant funding for states.
Lastly, H.R. 6433 would direct the Secretary of Labor to conduct a study on the EMS workforce shortage and issue a report to Congress. The report would include an analysis on potentially adding paramedics and EMTs to the list of health care occupations which benefit from an easier hiring process of professionals outside the U.S.
The American Ambulance Association, National Rural Health Association and Washington Ambulance Association have endorsed H.R. 6433. In the coming days, the AAA will be launching a Call to Action to encourage and assist our members in contacting their U.S. Representatives in support of cosponsoring H.R. 6433.
Thank you to all of the AAA members and volunteer leaders who worked tirelessly to push for the introduction of this important EMS legislation!
CMS Finalized CY 2024 Ambulance Fee Schedule Add-Ons and Adopts Helpful Modifications to Ground Ambulance Data Collection System
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Welch, Sanders, & Balint Introduce Treatment in Place Bill
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Crash Responder Safety Week, November 13–17, 2023
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2023 AAA Legislative Awards
The American Ambulance Association is proud to announce the winners of the 2023 AAA Legislative Awards. Each Member of Congress is being recognized for their strong advocacy for emergency medical services and their ongoing dedication to ambulance services across the United States.
2023 AAA Legislators of the Year
Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D (LA)
Senator Jon Tester (MT)
2023 AAA Legislative Recognition Award Recipients
Senators
- Senator Cortez Masto (NV)
- Senator Collins (ME)
- Senator Stabenow (MI)
- Senator Schumer (NY)
- Senator Lujan (NM)
- Senator Kaine (VA)
- Senator Murkowski (AK)
- Senator Tuberville (AL)
- Senator Murray (WA)
- Senator Moran (KS)
- Senator Boozman (AR)
Representatives
- Congressman Blumenauer (OR-3)
- Congresswoman Kelly (IL-2)
- Congresswoman Sewell (AL-7)
- Congressman Wenstrup (OH-2)
- Congressman Carter (GA-1)
- Congressman Tonko (NY-20)
- Congressman Davis (IL-7)
- Congresswoman Perez (WA-3)
- Congressman Finstad (MN-1)
- Congressman Pence (IN-6)
- Congressman Kim (NJ-3)
- Congresswoman Clark (MA-5)
- Congressman Zinke (MT-1)
- Congressman Guest (MS-3)
- Congresswoman Hoyle (OR-4)
- Congressman Bost (IL-12)
- Congressman Alford (MO-4)
Clarification: Applicability of NSA to Ground Ambulance Services
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FICEMS DEIA Statement Now Available
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GAPBAC | Registration Open for Oct 31, Nov 1 Meetings
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Prehospital Blood Transfusion Initiative
Press Release from the Prehospital Blood Transfusion Initiative Coalition
PREHOSPITAL BLOOD TRANSFUSION INITIATIVE COALITION BEING FORMED
Contact:
Bill Skillman
bskillman@veli.co
781 315 7537
In cities, towns and rural communities across the US people are dying unnecessarily from severe bleeding arising from limited supply of blood products and lack of blood transfusions after injury or other causes of hemorrhagic shock. Bleeding to death from uncontrolled hemorrhage remains the leading cause of preventable deaths among victims of trauma with nearly half of these patients dying in the prehospital setting. Unfortunately, in the vast majority of cases, blood products are not available on emergency medical response vehicles because of reimbursement limitations and local regulations which vary by state.
The Prehospital Blood Transfusion Initiative Coalition (PHBTIC) is being established to address these problems. “A growing number of ground and air medical EMS programs have successfully initiated blood programs in recent years, but more needs to be done to ensure patients in the U.S. who need prehospital transfusion are able to receive it, regardless of where they live” notes John Holcomb, MD, Professor of Surgery at University of Alabama at Birmingham, an internationally renowned trauma surgeon and expert on civilian and military hemorrhage control and resuscitation. The Coalition, led by a steering committee, is building a multi-disciplinary, collaborative initiative to advance four pillars of focused activity to promote prehospital blood transfusion programs:
- Establish reimbursement for blood products transfused in the prehospital setting.
- EMS scope-of-practice allowing the initiation of prehospital blood products in states where it currently is not allowed.
- Strategic preparedness for homeland defense and mass casualties.
- Outreach and education, including regulatory, protocols, and best practices for programs based on experiences of agencies currently conducting programs.
“Our group represents a diverse community of prehospital and hospital-based medical professionals, as well as industry, blood collection, and government partners, whose focus is on improving outcomes of all patients suffering hemorrhagic shock in a data-driven fashion” say Eric Bank, LP, NRP, Assistant Chief of EMS HCESD 48 Fire-EMS and Randi Schaefer, DNP, RN, Clinical Consultant and Scientific Advisor.
The Steering Committee has already reached out to national stakeholder organizations in the EMS, trauma, blood and industry communities and are soliciting others with an interest in ensuring blood products are available in all emergency settings to join the Coalition. They will be scheduling an initial meeting of the Coalition in the coming weeks. Those interested are encouraged to contact Jon R Krohmer, MD at jrkrohmer@gmail.com
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GAPBAC | AAA Comment Letter on Final Recommendations
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VA Final Rule on Ambulance Services Update
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PBS NewsHour | The No Surprises Act left out ground ambulances. Here’s what’s happening now
Thank you to American Ambulance Association Secretary @WayneJurecki for standing up for patients and #EMS providers. @NewsHour #SupportEMS #GAPBAC #AlwaysOpen #NotJustaRide https://t.co/L982QAYr3X @EMS1 @jemsconnect @UKROBL1 @AIMHI_MIH @EMSWorldOFCL
— AmericanAmbulanceAsc (@amerambassoc) August 24, 2023
GAPBAC | Follow Up from Committee Meeting #2
Ground Ambulance and Patient Billing (GAPB) Advisory Committee Public Meeting #2 (August 16, 2023)
The Ground Ambulance and Patient Billing (GAPB) Advisory Committee Second Public Meeting was held on August 16, 2023. Materials for this meeting are available for download on the CMS.gov GAPB website.
As we continue this webinar series, we look to you as industry experts to provide feedback and recommend information that would be beneficial in future webinars. Written public comments for consideration by the Advisory Committee may be emailed to: GAPBAdvisoryCommittee@
Public comments on the specific topics listed in the GAPB Advisory Committee Public Meeting #2 Agenda, should be submitted by September 5, 2023 for consideration by the GAPB Advisory Committee.
GAPBAC | Second Meeting August 16
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NEMSAC | Meeting August 9-10
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Perez and Finstad Push Medic to Paramedic Provision
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AAA Encourages CMS to Consider Revised Innovation Model for Treatment in Place
Washington, DC— While the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has decided to end the Emergency Triage, Treat, and Transport (ET3) Model two years early on December 31, 2023, the American Ambulance Association (AAA) remains committed to working with CMS on all future efforts to design programs that fully utilize the ground ambulance services in the delivery of mobile healthcare services. CMS made the decision to end the model “due to lower than expected participation and lower than projected interventions.”
The AAA is encouraged that CMS has stated that, “the lessons learned from the ET3 Model can aid in the development of potential future initiatives.” Our members are committed to supporting such future efforts to make sure that the requirements support true treatment in place and recognize the unique needs of rural ground ambulance services and the communities they serve. Moreover, we encourage CMS to work with the AAA to move forward with alternative destination as a permanent policy based not only on the lessons learned from the ET3 model, but also those garnered as a result of the Public Health Emergency (PHE) waiver. The AAA continues to support efforts to refine the Medicare ground ambulance emergency benefit to support delivering pre-hospital services to the patients who need them at the time they need them and where they need them.
CMS Releases Advance Copy of CY 2024 Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule
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