Congress approves ambulance Medicare add-ons

By EMS1 Staff

WASHINGTON —Congress passed a five-year extension of Medicare ambulance add-ons as part of a two-year budget deal.

According to Ambulance.org, the provisions in the final deal passed by Congress differ from the provisions passed earlier in the week – they now include the collection of ambulance cost data.

The final package includes:

• A cost data collection process that gives the Secretary of HHS flexibility in developing the system and requires industry consultation so that a balance is struck between obtaining data and not causing the EMS agencies to be burdened.
• The extension, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2018, is effective through Dec. 31, 2022
• If the required data is not reported, a payment reduction of up to 10 percent will be issued for the following year, unless there is a hardship case.
• A “pay-for” for the extension with a 13 percent cut to non-emergent dialysis transport