Due to fewer available hospital beds during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many ambulance providers have been directed to care for patients in settings other than emergency rooms — such as at a patient’s home or in other healthcare facilities — however, Medicare does not pay ambulance providers when a beneficiary is treated on-location.
That would change under a bipartisan bill, S. 149, introduced on Feb. 2 by U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) that would reimburse ambulance providers for services delivered to Medicare beneficiaries during the pandemic. U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) sponsored the measure.
“If a patient cannot be taken to a hospital because it is full, an EMT can treat the patient at their home. EMTs have been heroes during the pandemic,” Sen. Cassidy said on Tuesday. “They should be paid for the care they give to Medicare patients who need help right away.”
Specifically, S. 149 would authorize the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to waive requirements to allow Medicare payment for ground ambulance services in response to a 911 call in cases when a beneficiary would have been transported to a destination permitted under Medicare regulations, but such transport did not occur as a result of community-wide emergency medical service protocols related to the COVID-19 public health emergency, according to information provided by Sen. Cassidy’s office.
The measure has been referred to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee for consideration.