Overview
Prepare Your Service for What’s Next With Ambulance Cost Data Collection
The time is finally here, and after months of waiting, the long anticipated proposed rule regarding the ambulance cost data collection system was released on July 29th, 2019. In 2020, these federally mandated changes will go into effect! Many of the recommended proposals are consistent with those made by the AAA and our members to CMS. Download the AAA Member-Only Summary> (Member login required to download).
The American Ambulance Association has created Ambulance Cost Education – a set of tools and information created by industry experts to prepare for the phase-in. With in-depth workshops, topic-focused webinars, and cutting edge tools, Ambulance Cost Education is a turnkey solution to learning and thriving with the changes coming in 2020.
Stay in the Loop! Sign Up for Cost Data Collection Email Updates!
Five Reasons to Comply With Ambulance Cost Data Collection
Why you Should Submit Your Data to CMS- Scott Moore
Get Involved
Join our email list for important cost collection updates
“To address the importance of the work that the payment reform committee is doing, we must consider the value of the part that small providers play in the healthcare delivery system today, and how imperative it is that we accomplish goals such as moving from Supplier to Provider status for all ambulance services in order to set the table for reimbursement that is more creative than just fee for transports. For example, 73% of all ambulance services who are credentialed by Medicare do less than 1,000 transports per year, which does not add up to sustainability for ambulances services endeavoring to adhere to best practices in providing emergency medical care. A vast majority of those services represented in the 73% are the first line—and in many cases the only line—of emergency medical care in their communities.”
“EMS serves all Americans—24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year. This is especially important in rural communities like mine, where hospitals and clinics may not be accessible to some of our most vulnerable populations, including the elderly, disabled, and chronically ill.
The American Ambulance Association’s legislative effort to ensure that government cost reporting requirements do not overly burden these mostly small healthcare providers has bipartisan support from coast to coast. At present, it is cosponsored by 30 representatives from 18 states as well as nine senators from both sides of the aisle. The same piece of legislation, the Medicare Ambulance Access, Fraud Prevention and Reform Act (H.R. 745, S. 377), ensures permanent, sustainable reimbursement for ambulance services, allowing us to stay focused on the most important part of the job—caring for you and your family in your time of need.
Please consider encouraging your members of congress to support the AAA’s legislation. A vote for AAA’s bill is a vote for the future of EMS in America.”