Protecting Air Ambulance Services for Americans Act of 2025
This bill authorizes payment changes under Medicare for air ambulance services based on certain collected data and requires additional reporting from providers of these services.
Current law requires providers of air ambulance services to report certain information regarding general costs and utilization to the Department of Health and Human Services; private health insurers are also required to report information relating to coverage of these services. The bill authorizes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to revise payment rates under Medicare for air ambulance services based on this data, and it requires providers of air ambulance services to specifically report information relating to costs and utilization under Medicare.
The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to report on the data that is collected under current law requirements and to recommend changes to Medicare payment rates accordingly.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4792 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4792
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to revise payment for
air ambulance services under the Medicare program.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 29, 2025
Mr. Estes (for himself and Ms. DelBene) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in
addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to revise payment for
air ambulance services under the Medicare program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Air Ambulance Services
for Americans Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO MEDICARE PAYMENT SYSTEM FOR AIR AMBULANCE
SERVICES.
Section 1834(l) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(l)) is
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(18) Improvements to medicare payment system for air
ambulance services.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary may revise the fee
schedule otherwise established under this subsection
for air ambulance services based on data described in
subparagraph (B) and data collected under subparagraph
(C).
``(B) Data described.--For purposes of subparagraph
(A), the data described in this subparagraph is data
collected pursuant to the provisions of, and amendments
made by, section 106 of division BB of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116-260).
``(C) Additional data collection.--The Secretary
shall require, once every 3 years, providers of
services and suppliers furnishing air ambulance
services to submit to the Secretary--
``(i) data relating to the fixed and
operated costs per air ambulance base
attributable to furnishing air ambulance
services to individuals enrolled under this
part and data relating to the utilization of
such services by such individuals;
``(ii) data relating to the revenue
obtained by such providers and suppliers under
this part attributable to the furnishing of
such services; and
``(iii) any other information determined
appropriate by the Secretary.
``(D) Consultation.--In the case that the Secretary
elects to revise the fee schedule for air ambulance
services under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall
consider stakeholder input in a process that is
transparent and appropriately considers data described
in subparagraph (B) and data collected under
subparagraph (C).''.
SEC. 3. TIMELY FINALIZATION OF AIR AMBULANCE DATA COLLECTION RULE.
Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall finalize and publish a
final rule implementing the air ambulance data collection requirements
under section 106 of division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations
Act, 2021 (Public Law 116-260).
SEC. 4. GAO STUDY ON EMERGENCY AIR AMBULANCE COSTS.
Not later than 1 year after the date on which data begins to be
collected pursuant to the provisions of, and amendments made by,
section 106 of division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021
(Public Law 116-260), the Comptroller General of the United States
shall submit to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the
Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of
the House of Representatives, a report detailing--
(1) the average annual operating costs per air ambulance
base;
(2) the average cost per transport by air ambulance;
(3) the payor mix for air ambulance services;
(4) the adequacy of Medicare payments for such services;
(5) geographic variations in the cost of furnishing such
services; and
(6) recommendations on improving the fee schedule under
section 1834(l) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(l))
for air ambulance services.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line