Current Actions

Request House Support for the Community Paramedicine Act of 2024

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 04:00:00 GMT

Request support from your House Representatives for H.R. 8042, the Community Paramedicine Act of 2024, introduced by Representatives Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) and Kelly Armstrong (R-ND). This bill would create a grant program under the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) that would authorize $25 million per year for five years to support community paramedicine services; award qualified entities up to $750,000 for individual applications and $1.5 million for joint applications; and establish an advisory board comprised of national community paramedicine, emergency medical service, and fire service organizations to advise, assist, and peer review grant applications in rural and underserved areas.

Encourage Congress to include $32M in FY2025 for SIREN Grants

Tue, 16 Apr 2024 04:00:00 GMT

Take action today to encourage Congress to include $32M in the FY2025 budget for the Rural EMS Training and Equipment Assistance (REMSTEA) grant program, otherwise known as the SIREN grants. The REMSTEA/SIREN Act grant program, administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), is a critical lifeline for budget-challenged rural EMS agencies and fire departments. The grants have provided much-needed funding to assist in procuring medication and medical supplies, recruiting and retaining personnel, increasing service levels from Basic Life Support to Advanced Life Support, and even replacing older ambulances with newer and safer models.

The Supporting and Improving Rural EMS Needs (SIREN) Act created a grant program specifically for rural public and non-profit EMS agencies and fire departments to purchase equipment, provide training, and to meet other critical needs, called the Rural EMS Training and Last Equipment Assistance (REMSTEA) grant program, also known as SIREN Act grants. Since the inception of the program in 2018, more than 100 awards ranging from $92,000 to $200,000 have been made to rural communities. The funds have been used to maintain, improve, or expand the level of emergency medical care provided to the residents of those communities – activities that were only possible with support from the REMSTEA program. This level of funding will allow SAMHSA to better meet the needs of rural communities and fund more of the applications for assistance that it receives through the annual funding announcement for the SIREN grants. The grant program is supported by a multitude of national EMS and Fire organizations.

Email Congress today to request an increase in funding in the FY2025 budget for rural EMS via the SIREN grants!

Ask Congress to Reauthorize the SIREN ACT

Mon, 15 Apr 2024 04:00:00 GMT

The SIREN Act was signed into law on December 20, 2018. This law created a grant program for public and non-profit EMS agencies and fire departments in rural areas to support the recruitment, retention, education, and equipping of EMS personnel. Rural EMS agencies and fire departments often lack the resources to pay for even basic operational needs, and this program is aimed at helping meet some of those needs.

This successful program needs to be reauthorized. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Susan Collins (R-ME) and Representatives David Joyce (R-OH) and Debbie Dingell (D-MI) have introduced the SIREN Reauthorization Act, S. 265 and H.R. 4646. These bills would reauthorize SIREN Act grants for an additional five years, through 2028. S. 265 passed the Senate in December 2023.

Please advocate for the passage of H.R. 4646 by engaging your U.S. House Representative!

Urge Congress to Support EMS Reimbursement for Treatment in Place (TIP)

Mon, 15 Apr 2024 04:00:00 GMT

NAEMT has long advocated for providing EMS agencies the flexibility to navigate patients to the right care in the right setting through federal and state reimbursement of Treatment in Place (TIP). Neither Medicaid nor Medicare currently cover TIP; because EMS is not reimbursed for care unless a patient is brought to the hospital, the current EMS economic model incentivizes transportation to a hospital emergency department, even when a less expensive level of care is appropriate.

Reimbursing EMS agencies for TIP will save Medicare billions of dollars on unnecessary emergency department visits, shorten task times for EMS agencies struggling with workforce shortages, help decompress overcrowded hospitals and emergency departments, and meet patients’ needs without long waits at the hospital. Many hospitals hold EMS personnel for hours waiting for an available bed in the emergency department, keeping EMS responders from getting back into service and ready for the next emergency in the community.

Send an email to your members of Congress today!

Ask Congress to Protect Access to Ground Ambulance Medical Services

Fri, 09 Jun 2023 04:00:00 GMT

S.1673 and H.R. 1666 would extend the current temporary increases under the Medicare ambulance fee schedule of 2% urban, 3% rural and 22.6% super rural for another three years, through December 31, 2027. Without the extension of these ground ambulance add-ons, many ambulance service organizations will not be able to continue serving their communities.

Congress originally extended the current Medicare add-on payments through December 31, 2022, when the review of the Medicare cost data collection survey and subsequent MedPAC analysis was expected to be complete. However, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) delayed the first two rounds of data collection because of the pandemic. As part of the FY2023 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, Congress extended the add-on payments until December 31, 2024. We ask for an additional three years to allow the cost collection data to be collected and analyzed so that a long-term solution to the chronic underfunding of the ambulance fee schedule can be adopted.

Years of below-cost Medicare reimbursement have hampered efforts by ambulance services to hire new staff, update equipment, and continue to provide life-saving services in their communities. Ambulance services have closed or been forced to lengthen response times because of the stresses on their systems. Congress must extend and even increase the percentages of this additional payments in order to help preserve access to critical 9-1-1 emergency and urgent interfacility ground ambulance services.

Take action by clicking on the button below!

Call On US House Representatives to Join the Congressional EMS Caucus

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 04:00:00 GMT

Congressional support for emergency medical and trauma care at the federal level is needed now more than ever. A robust Congressional EMS Caucus will bring a more disciplined focus on legislative issues and form a more collective and cohesive bipartisan message on EMS issues to support EMS providers nationwide. The U.S. House of Representatives Congressional EMS Caucus will help promote, educate, and increase awareness around the federal policy issues impacting EMS and serve as a resource for policy questions.

To learn more, click on the link below on the right to view the EMS Caucus Dear Colleague Letter and view a list of current EMS Caucus members.

Tell Us More - Congressional Contact Form

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 04:00:00 GMT

Upon completion of a phone conversation or in-person meeting with your member of Congress or their staff in DC or at their district office, please complete the Congressional Contact Form to allow us to assist you in advocating for the EMS profession and your patients.