An Update from AAMS Interim President and CEO, Kolby Kolbet

News & Press: Member Alerts

An Update from AAMS Interim President and CEO, Kolby Kolbet

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

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July 5, 2022

Greetings AAMS Members,

I’ve just finished up my first AAMS staff meeting here in Alexandria, Virginia, and I left the table impressed with the level of professionalism and experience we are afforded by a very capable group of individuals. Despite a recent change at the CEO position, I have total confidence in our current AAMS team - the daily operations of the association are in great hands as we move forward. As I’m learning at a rapid pace, there is so much work going on behind the scenes of AAMS, and I am implementing plans to better communicate these efforts to our members. Our staff remains equally as committed to the AAMS mission as leadership and the membership.

Next, please mark your calendars for the next AAMS Member Town Hall – Tuesday, July 19 at 2pm ET. Here’s a brief look at the planned agenda – we hope you can join us!

New AAMS Medicare Policy Position
Over the next several months AAMS will be working with Congressional members and staff on a legislative proposal designed to increase transparency in the costs of providing air ambulance, analyze those costs and allow Medicare to change the reimbursement rates based on that analysis, and to change Medicare payment policy to allow air ambulances to bill Medicare for the services they provide patients in addition to the standard rates for transportation.

No Surprises Act Implementation
AAMS continues to engage on the most pressing issue facing the healthcare providers today - the implementation of the No Surprises Act (NSA). We expect the release of the Final Rule in the month of July. AAMS members continue to report a variety of experiences with payors and with the IDR experience, and AAMS is working on multiple avenues to address member concerns.

Transparency in Coverage
On Friday, July 1st, the Transparency in Coverage Final Rule requiring insurers to publicly disclose the rates they have negotiated with participating providers went into effect.

Veterans Administration
The VA continues plans to lower its transportation rate to parity with Medicare and while there is no Final Rule on this front, AAMS has asked the VA to delay this implementation until data collection efforts at CMS required by the NSA.

You can register for the July 19th Town Hall here.
Learn more details about each of these topics through a more-detailed AAMS Public Affairs Update here.

To close, I’d like to again encourage you to reach out to me or to any AAMS Board member with your questions or concerns. We want to hear from you.