Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) introduced the bipartisan Protecting Access to Ground Ambulance Medical Services Act, which would ensure that all communities, particularly those in rural and underserved areas, have access to vital emergency and non-emergency ground ambulance services.
In 2022, Cortez Masto passed a law to make sure ambulance providers are adequately reimbursed for providing critical services. Specifically, the legislation provided Medicare add-on payments for ground ambulance services until 2025. Since then, Congress, on a bipartisan basis, has passed additional extensions, maintaining the enhanced reimbursement rate for ground ambulance services through September 30, 2025. This bipartisan bill builds on those efforts by extending and increasing Medicare add-on payments for ambulance services in all communities. This legislation will continue to close the gap between Medicare reimbursement and the cost of providing services, helping ambulance service providers hire and retain EMT staff, update their equipment, and continue providing lifesaving medical care across the country, especially in the underserved areas where EMT services can be expensive and hard to access.
“During a medical emergency, all Nevadans should be able to count on lifesaving ambulance services,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “This bipartisan legislation provides essential resources to rural and underserved communities to ensure that no one is left without help in a life-or-death situation.”
“Whether an automobile accident, a fire, a health crisis, or another catastrophe, paramedics are there in those first critical minutes when courage, skill, and compassion are most needed,” said Senator Collins. “Our bipartisan bill would support these first responders, especially those in rural and underserved communities, by ensuring they are adequately reimbursed by Medicare for their services. As a Senator representing one of the most rural states in the country, I will continue to support the brave men and women who work around the clock to protect our communities.”
The legislation is endorsed by the American Ambulance Association, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, and the National Rural Health Association.
“The American Ambulance Association appreciates the support for ground ambulance services that Senators Coretz Masto, Collins, Cassidy, and Welch continue to provide by reintroducing the Protecting Access to Ground Ambulance Medical Services Act of 2025,” said Jamie Pafford Gresham, President of the American Ambulance Association. “If enacted, the legislation would prevent a gap in much-needed funding for local ground ambulance services to maintain the adjustments for providers that service rural, urban, and super-rural communities that are set to expire on October 1. Moreover, the legislation provides some relief for the substantial cost increases in labor, vehicle, equipment, and drugs and devices these local services are encountering and that current policy does not address.”
The full text of the bill can be accessed here.
Senator Cortez Masto has consistently fought to ensure that Nevadans can access quality, affordable health care. She’s passed a law to make sure ambulance providers are adequately reimbursed for providing critical services, fought to protect the Medicare Advantage program for millions of seniors and Americans with disabilities, and introduced legislation to keep labor and delivery units open in rural and underserved hospitals. She has also championed the Inflation Reduction Act, which gives Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices, caps drug costs and limits egregious price hikes by drug manufacturers. She has repeatedly pressed the Trump administration for transparency about its cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services.
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