News

FAA Acting President John Peterson recently shared with JEMS the value of advanced preparation to hurricane response. Read his article here►

After the renewal of the ambulance Medicare add-ons, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) made a mistake when it uploaded the 2018 SNF Consolidated Billing file. CMS neglected to list the ambulance HCPCS codes (A0425, A0426, etc.) as exempt. As several members have noted, this resulted in many erroneous claims denials for patients in SNFs.

After consultation with experts, FAA believes that this issue has been resolved, and that no action is needed by ambulance providers. FirstCoast is expected to automatically reprocess the erroneous denials fairly quickly.

As a matter of precaution, members are advised to keep a list of impacted claims in case an appeal is needed in the future, within the usual 120 window. (Appeal is not recommended at this juncture as this might limit FirstCoast's ability to automatically reprocess the claim.)

Read the most recent FirstCoast post about this issue.

For over 25 years, the Florida Department of Health had the honor of recognizing the men and women who provide lifesaving services in times of crisis. This is a small way of paying tribute to the brave medical professionals and agencies that ensure the public’s health and safety in times of an emergency. The following award categories represent several aspects of the prehospital environment. The department is honored to receive nominations each year. The Application form is now available. 

Award Categories 

• Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
• Paramedic
• 911 Public Safety Telecommunicator
• EMS Disaster Preparedness & Response
• EMS Provider
• EMS Education (individual or organization)
• EMS for Children Star of Life (individual or organization)
• Larry S. Jordan - EMS Hall of Fame
• Raymond H. Alexander - EMS Medical Direction
• Marilyn Crook EMS Pioneer Award
• Lynn Stevens Excellence in Safety Award
• Beth Rogers Nursing Award
• EMS Injury Prevention
• Photo and/or Video (individual or organization)
• Friend to EMS (individual or organization)
• EMS Memorial

Nominate Today!

Thank you to the many FAA members who worked to encourage legislators to renew the ambulance Medicare add-ons. Per the American Ambulance Association (AAA), these were recently extended through 2022, with the following specific provisions:

• 5 year extension of the ambulance Medicare add-ons through December 31, 2022, retroactive to January 1, 2018.
• AAA’s preferred method of Cost data collection that provides flexibility to the Secretary of HHS in developing the system. Consultation with the industry is required so that it strikes the appropriate balance between obtaining meaningful data while not overly burdening or onerously penalizing the ambulance services.
• The penalty for failing to report required data would be a reduction in payment up to 10% for the year following the year in which the data should have been submitted. AAA objected to the house proposed penalty of up to a year of Medicare payments clawback or withholding of payments. A clause is included to wave the penalty in cases of hardship.
• A “pay-for” for the 5-year extension of the add-ons with a 13% cut to non-emergent dialysis transports – the AAA had objected to the offset and pushed for a cut targeted to just those entities which abuse the dialysis transport benefit. AAA was successful in reducing the initial cut from 22% to 13%. The AAA is actively working on other pay-for options that would replace the 13% cut with something targeting dialysis fraud and abuse.

Additionally, thanks to eagle-eyed FAA member Bryan Andrews for the following information! 

CMS has published an updated fee schedule, and.First Coast Service Option's contractor ID is 09102.  (As of yesterday, it does not appear that FCSO has updated their site.)

CMS Website Ambulance Page

This year's Bureau of Emergency Medical Oversight EMS Survey received record response. Review the full results in this PDF►

At yesterday's FAA membership meeting, long-term former board member Chief Dave Dyal received the FAA Lifetime Achievement Award. Congratulations, Chief Dyal, on your retirement!

See photos on Facebook>

The Florida Ambulance Association wishes EMS across our state a safe and happy holiday season. Thank you for your service!

It is with personal regret but deepest warm wishes that I announce the retirement of Florida Ambulance Association President Walt Eismann. Walt served the FAA for decades, and EMS since 1982. We thank him for his guidance, time, and thought over these many years.

It is a testament to Walt’s excellent governance and leadership that our association can continue to move forward, even in his absence. In accordance with FAA bylaws, as your Vice President I have assumed the role of Interim President until our meeting in Daytona Beach in January. At that time, the membership will discuss this matter further and determine whether to hold a special election that day or wait for the regularly-scheduled elections in July. In the meantime, the FAA board—Immediate Past President Alan Skavroneck, Secretary Terence Ramotar, Treasurer Holly Martin, and myself—continue to work diligently to continue seamless representation of our industry in Tallahassee.

Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact faa@ambulance.org, or reach out to me directly at jpeterson@sunstarems.com. Thank you for your continued support of the Florida Ambulance Association.

Learn more about the January Special Membership Meeting►

Happy Thanksgiving to Florida's ambulance services. We thank you for your dedicated service to our communities.

Many thanks to FAA President Walt Eismann as well as Raul Rodriguez and Alissa Garcia of National Health Transport! Walt, Raul, and Alissa visited with the offices of their Senators and Representatives today to advocate for fair reimbursement for ambulance services. 

View photos of their DC trip on FAA Facebook!