Congress Extends Ambulance Relief for Two Months
It passed! President Obama Expected to Sign
Legislation has passed temporarily extending ambulance claim bonus payments that were set to expire in a week.
President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law today. For at least two months, the bonus payments will remain in place and thanks to the positive adjustment in the Ambulance Inflation Factor, all segments of ambulance providers will see an increase of +2.4%.
The legislation rode on the coattails of the “payroll tax holiday” which will benefit all workers with extra dollars in their paychecks.
Relief for now
As we all know, the ambulance industry suffers from underfunding by at least six percent by the Federal Governments own admittance. This temporary extension, with hopefully a permanent fix to come at the end of the two-month period, is a great relief for the ambulance industry. Many of our ambulance clients were facing the second Medicare decrease in as many years without this stop-gap measure at a time when the industry is experiencing tight operating margins due to continually rising costs and a weakened charitable giving environment due to the overall state of the economy.
Thank Your Legislator!
During the Holiday break, many legislators will be visiting their home districts. We advise you to reach out and say “thanks” to your Senator and Representatives. During that discussion, you have a great opportunity to educate them how vital the passage of a permanent fix is to your operation and the overall status of the EMS community, nationwide.
New Approval Amounts to Follow
As soon as the new Medicare Ambulance Fee Schedule amounts are announced we will notify our clients. Keep watching this Blog space for further updates and clients can also expect a notification by e-mail of breaking developments.
We acknowledge and is appreciative of the efforts of the American Ambulance Association along with continued guidance from our friends at Page, Wolfberg and Wirth for their continued guidance and notifications on this and other timely industry issues.
