For ground and air ambulance claims with dates of service on or after January 1, 2010, Medicare will no longer pay ground and air ambulance service providers based on the following two expired provisions.

Section 146(a) of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) provided for an increase in the ambulance fee schedule amounts for covered ground ambulance transport as follows:

• For transports that originated in urban areas, the increase was 2 percent.
• For transports that originated in rural areas, the increase was 3 percent.
• The increases were applicable only for claims with dates of service July 1, 2008 – December 31, 2009.

In addition, Section 146(b)(1) of MIPPA amended the designation of rural areas for air ambulance services. The statute specified that any area that was designated as a rural area as of December 31, 2006, for purposes of making payments for air ambulance services under the ambulance fee schedule, should continue to be treated as a rural area for purposes of making air ambulance service payments under the ambulance fee schedule. This statute was applicable only for claims with dates of service July 1, 2008 – December 31, 2009.

(CMS Joint Signature Memorandum (JSM) 10125, dated January 21, 2010)