Happy New Year! We appreciate your service to your communities during the holiday season and hope that you and your families were able to enjoy some time together.

On December 31st, the current extension of the Medicare add-on payments for ambulances expired. Unfortunately, while Congress passed a tax bill and a short-term continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded until January 19, 2018, Congress failed to complete action on the extenders package that included the ambulance add-on payments, as well as other important extenders for other Medicare providers.

As we move into 2018, we must now advocate for the restoration and continuation of the Ambulance Medicare extenders. Your participation in our advocacy campaign for the Medical extenders is essential. Please contact your House and Senate lawmakers today and ask them to support H.R. 3729, the Comprehensive Operations, Sustainability, and Transport Act of 2017.

NAEMT is strongly advocating to include the provisions of H.R. 3729 in the next CR which ends January 19, 2018.

H.R. 3729 would extend the 2 percent urban, 3 percent rural, and the 22.6 percent super rural bonus payments for five years. This will enable our industry to continue providing the quality and accessible patient care all of our communities deserve. Without these extenders, our EMS agencies will not be able to deliver the essential, life-saving services that we provide 24/7, every day.  

To contact your House and Senate lawmakers, please go to: http://www.naemt.org/advocacy/online-legislative-service#/

Thank you very much for your support of the EMS profession and the patients we serve.

Please make sure your voice is heard!

Sincerely,

Dennis Rowe, EMT-P
President, NAEMT