medicare reform - Association of Air Medical Services

Medicare Reform

Medicare Reform Legislation Introduced in Congress

H.R.3691 / S.1803: Protecting Air Ambulance Services for Americans Act of 2023

This bipartisan, bicameral legislation will provide CMS with a more transparent look into the overall costs of operating an air ambulance. With the combination of the GAO study and the AAMS backed legislation, we hope that air ambulances will receive the necessary compensation to continue to save lives.

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AAMS Position on Medicare Reform

AAMS advocates for Medicare reform to ensure that air ambulance transport is available to every person in need. AAMS also firmly believes that every air ambulance is more than just the transport. The level of care provided by air ambulances and their highly trained crews make them flying intensive care units, and AAMS believes they should be reimbursed accordingly.

In continuing the fight of Medicare reform, AAMS advocates for the following:

Requiring the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study of the CMS collected data. AAMS proposes several factors that should be taken into consideration in the GAO study, like the average cost per base to operate annually and the average cost per transit. AAMS feels that the study will allow the GAO to make reasonable recommendations to CMS to compile a more adequate Medicare fee schedule.

Providing CMS the authority to rebase the Medicare fee schedule based on the data collected by CMS (as required by the No Surprises Act) and per the recommendations in the GAO study.

Building a “Air Ambulance Safety Net” that would allow for temporary increases in the Medicare rate to assist those air ambulance programs serving underserved communities- rural communities or those that lack adequate emergency healthcare resources.

Providing for an additional payment structure to allow services providing a higher level of care on those flights that require it to bill for those additional services. These “modifiers” would mirror the additional services provided by ICU’s or the Mobile Integrated Health model. AAMS will rely on our Council for Clinical Practice and other volunteer groups to build upon this proposal.

Further, AAMS is confident that the proper implementation of the robust data collection program by the No Surprises Act, CMS will better understand the costs associated with the transportation of patients covered by Medicare. AAMS fully supports this data collection as we believe it will lead CMS to a more comprehensive understanding of their proposed rule.

AAMS continues to monitor the healthcare policy in general on behalf of our members; among the issues facing Medicare’s future:

Medicare researchers are warning that time is running out for Congress to find a long term solution to Medicare’s draining financial issues.
Marc Goldwein, senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, anticipates that the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will run out by 2028.
The number of Americans projected to qualify for Medicare is projected to top 95 million by 2060, rising 7% of the population relative to 2018.
Currently, there are slightly less than four workers paying into Medicare per beneficiary, by 2060, that number is anticipated to fall to 2.25.
Causes for this are mostly linked to Medicare Advantage, which is a branch of Medicare that contracts coverage to private plans for Medicare beneficiaries.