Air ambulances need Medicare fix before it's too late
A message from: SOAR Campaign
Medicare has been under-reimbursing for emergency air medical services, covering just 59% of an air ambulance transport.
Why it's important: Without an updated rate, patients will lose access to air ambulances and more air bases will close — more than a dozen have already shut down in the last two years.
- Medicare beneficiaries — primarily seniors and disabled Americans — make up nearly 40% of all air medical transports, underscoring their importance.
- Loss of access to air medical could put millions of lives at risk, especially in emergencies like heart attacks, strokes, severe falls or serious accidents.
What you need to know: More than 100 rural hospitals have closed in the last decade, making air ambulances essential for people who live in health care deserts to access the care they need in an emergency.
What you're missing: The current Medicare reimbursement rate for air medical services is set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) using data from 1998.
- In other words: The reimbursement rate hasn't been updated in more than 25 years, despite inflation and increasing operational costs.
The solution: Bipartisan legislation, the Protecting Air Ambulance Services for Americans Act, was introduced to address this issue and protect seniors.
The deets: This bill would give CMS the authority to use current, comprehensive cost data to update and modernize Medicare reimbursement rates for air medical services.
- CMS is already in the process of collecting the data from air ambulance providers. This bill is needed to give CMS the authority to use the data to update the reimbursement rate.
Okay, but: Despite being introduced in 2023, the bill has seen little progress in recent months.
Congress must take action as soon as possible to ensure seniors and rural Americans maintain access to critical air ambulance services and prevent base closures in underserved areas. Without it, more air bases will close.
The positive news: A survey by SOAR and One Country Project found 84% of voters support increasing the Medicare reimbursement rate for emergency air medical services.
Get involved: SOAR is urging Americans to contact your member of Congress to encourage them to pass the Protecting Air Ambulance Services for Americans Act.
- "Congress must pass this legislation to guarantee access to lifesaving air medical services for millions of rural and underserved Americans," says PJ Amartey, a spokesperson at SOAR.