Protecting Air Ambulance Services for Americans Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2518 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2518

 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to revise payment for 
           air ambulance services under the Medicare program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 29, 2025

 Mr. Bennet (for himself and Mrs. Blackburn) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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.
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