3 More Months – Medicare Extenders Extended!
By Chuck Humphrey, B.A., EMT-B, CADS*
H.R. 1968
The Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, to fund the federal government through the end of the 2025 fiscal year ending with September 30th was passed just as last week’s legislative session closed on Friday evening.
Included in the passage of this funding bill, was the continuation of the Medicare ambulance extenders…
- 2% urban add-on payments
- 3% rural add-on payments
- 22.6% super-rural add-on payments
Cautiously…good news!
Each time our federal government extends passage of critical funding it is good news for an ambulance industry that is increasingly faced with the burden of under-funding. However, cautiously, we once again receive but a six-month reprieve, followed almost immediately by yet lobbying crusade to ensure that the extenders extend for yet another undetermined period.
Read the GADCS…
Forgive me if this blog reads like the continual “broken record” as I once again whine in writing as to why EMS in America seems to simply cascade from one funding cliff to another.
The recent report arising from tranche one and two of the Ground Ambulance Data Collection System (GADCS) glaringly demonstrates that the funding gap that exists between the cost to provide EMS response and transport and the resulting reimbursement, is at least hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.
Given that this federal project, in their own analysis, spotlights a funding gap that many of us have been telling our legislators exists for literally decades; I find it disappointing that there seems to be collective “brain fog” on Capitol Hill when it comes to ambulance reimbursements.
In this blogger’s humble opinion, not only should our industry not be forced to springboard from one funding brink to the next, but common sense would dictate that Washington’s decision-makers should recognize the shortfall and either fix the Medicare fee schedule or, at least, increase the add-on payment amounts indefinitely together with an inflationary increase that is perpetual. To rely on eleventh hour decisions to fund the nation’s EMS system is a complete travesty!
Band-Aid Applied
But, for now, we celebrate a victory that lasts at least over this past weekend and immediately begins anew to lobby Congress seeking a solution. The band-aid has been applied, for now. The bleeding hasn’t stopped, it’s just a slower dollar ooze.
Of course, the long game is that we await the final GADCS report, MedPAC’s response and ultimately a final report to be handed up to Congress. Will the legislature respond with a permanent solution? Get out the crystal ball and fast forward to 2026…that’s about as good as it gets, for now. Yet, until then, we continue this game of kicking the proverbial can down the road.
Again!
*Chuck Humphrey is an independent contractor who spent 25 years in the EMS revenue cycle management industry, prior to his retirement from Quick Med Claims. In addition to holding EMT credentials in Pennsylvania, he is also a Certified Ambulance Documentation Specialist via the National Academy of Ambulance Compliance. Humphrey is a periodic guest contributor to the QMC blog and podcast space.
