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Protecting Air Ambulance Services for Americans Act of 2025
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to revise payment for air ambulance services under the Medicare program.
Summary
This bill revises Medicare's payment system for air ambulance services by allowing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to adjust the fee schedule based on cost and utilization data. Air ambulance providers are required to submit data every three years to Medicare, including fixed and operating costs per base, utilization data for Medicare beneficiaries, revenue from Medicare, and other relevant information. The Secretary must finalize a data collection rule within six months of enactment. The Government Accountability Office is required to conduct a study within one year of data collection beginning and report to Congress on average operating costs, cost per transport, payor mix, adequacy of Medicare payments, geographic variations in costs, and recommendations for improving the fee schedule.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
13 cosponsors
- Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN] (R-TN)
- Sen. Budd, Ted [R-NC] (R-NC)
- Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV] (R-WV)
- Sen. Cortez Masto, Catherine [D-NV] (D-NV)
- Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT] (R-MT)
- Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM] (D-NM)
- Sen. Hickenlooper, John W. [D-CO] (D-CO)
- Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] (D-NM)
- Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI] (D-HI)
- Sen. Scott, Tim [R-SC] (R-SC)
- Sen. Sheehy, Tim [R-MT] (R-MT)
- Sen. Tuberville, Tommy [R-AL] (R-AL)
- Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA] (D-VA)
Actions (2)
- Jul 29, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. · senate
- Jul 29, 2025 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
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. <all>
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