YourVoice.Now Summary
Average Household ImpactTransparency & AccountabilityMedicare could pay ambulance crews who treat you at the scene of a 911 call, with no ride to the hospital.
Average Household Impact
- Medicare payment for on-scene ambulance treatment — Covered when no hospital transport occurs
- Telehealth access during emergencies — Patient's location counts as an eligible telehealth site
Transparency & Accountability
- Program review — GAO must report on outcomes and access within four years
- Secretary's authority over the model — Standard power to modify or end innovation models does not apply
The details
Medicare would start paying ambulance crews for treatment given at the scene. Today Medicare generally pays only when the patient is driven to a hospital. Under this test model, a 911 response that ends in on-scene treatment could still be paid. Payment rates would roughly match what a transport would have paid. If a telehealth visit happens alongside that treatment, wherever the patient is counts as an eligible telehealth site. Medicare's innovation center must launch the model within two years of enactment and run it for five years. The Government Accountability Office must report within four years on patient outcomes and access to emergency care. The bill also exempts this model from the Secretary's usual authority to change or end innovation models.
Congressional Summary
Comprehensive Alternative Response for Emergencies Act of 2025 or the CARE Act of 2025This bill requires the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to test a five-year model that provides for Medicare payment for ground ambulance services that do not result in the transport of the patient. Under the model, Medicare payment may be furnished for ground ambulance services when an ambulance is dispatched in response to an emergency medical call but the ambulance does not end up transporting the patient. Payment rates under the model must generally align with the payment rates that apply when there is an actual transport. The Government Accountability Office must report on the general access of Medicare beneficiaries to emergency medical services, including the impact of the model on beneficiary access and outcomes.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-04-01
- Date Added
- 2026-07-25
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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