The Ambulance Association of Pennsylvania (AAP) is the lead organization for the advancement of the needs of its members in the emergency and non-emergency ambulance and medical transportation industry. The AAP advocates the highest quality patient care through ethical and sound business practices, advancing the interests of its members in important legislative, regulatory, educational and reimbursement issues.  LEARN MORE>>




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  • 11/10/2023 9:02 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Veteran’s Administration Says It Will Delay Payment Cutting Rule for One Year

    Good news for AAP members and all ambulance services across the country.  In a court filing late yesterday (November 21), the Veterans Administration (VA) has represented to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, that it is now “developing a rule that would delay the Change in Rates effective date by approximately one year, until February 2025. The VA stated in the official court documents that it expects this “new” rule – solely to delay the effective date of its current payment cutting rule - to be published prior to February 16, 2024. The VA told the court that the VA “does not expect the change in Rates Rule to go into effect by the current effective date” – which is February 16, 2024. The new VA payment reduction rule, if implemented, will cut ambulance reimbursement for services provided to veterans by non-contracted ambulance services from the actual charge for the service to the “lesser of” the actual charges or the Medicare Fee Schedule amount.  This will result in a drastic reduction in payments to ambulance services provided to our veterans.

    Several ambulance companies, including MedStar Mobile Healthcare in Texas, and Quaker Valley Ambulance Authority, Valley Ambulance Authority, and AMED Ambulance Authority in Pennsylvania, filed a motion on November 1, 2023, in the federal appeals court to “stay” (delay) implementation of the rule. The AAP supported that effort with the filing of a “friend of the court” brief explaining the adverse impact that the rate reduction would have on ambulance services and veterans across Pennsylvania. The VA was required to file a response to the motion to stay by midnight on November 21st.  The VA filed its response to the motion with its announcement to the court that it now intends to voluntarily delay the rule for another year.   (The VA web page also just added a note that that the VA plans to delay the effective date “by approximately one year.”)   https://www.va.gov/healthbenefits/vtp/

    “It is good news that the VA has succumbed to the pressure to delay this rule. We believe that the litigation initiated in federal court, led by MedStar and Pennsylvania based ambulance services, was a big tipping point in our favor,” said Heather Sharar,  Executive Director of the Ambulance Association of Pennsylvania. “This is one battle won in the war to preserve essential ambulance reimbursement for lifesaving 911 ambulance services provided to our veterans,” she said.   

    The VA response still needs to be acted on by the court. “It’s important to note that the federal court still needs to rule on the motion the ambulance services filed to delay the rule, even with the VA’s representation that it says it will delay implementation another year,” said Steve Wirth, attorney with Page, Wolfberg & Wirth, LLC which is general counsel for the AAP, and which also filed a “friend of the court” brief on behalf of the AAP supporting the delay. “The parties feel strongly that the VA lacked the legal authority to make the rate reduction change in the first place, and the merits of the case have yet to be decided,” he said. “A delay in the rule would allow the court more time to consider the merits of the case and receive more thorough legal briefing from the parties,” Wirth said.  “We are optimistic that the court will grant the request to delay, in light of this new development.”    

    This is a positive development for ambulance services in Pennsylvania and across the country in the fight to preserve VA reimbursement. “There were many groups and forces that came together to bring about this positive result,” said Sharar.  Ambulance services and EMS associations nationwide reached out to their federal legislators and told them that the VA’s drastic rate reduction could cripple ambulance services and reduce access to essential medical care for our veterans. “This favorable development is the result of a broad-based approach to advocating for our ambulance services and veterans. It shows the good that we can all do when we work together, with the interest of the patient – in this case our military veterans and those who serve them – at the forefront,” Sharar said.     


  • 11/01/2023 10:01 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Check out our video!!!  

  • 02/17/2023 11:41 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    The agenda centers around Medical Assistance, Sustainable Funding, Recruitment, Retention and Workforce Development, Statewide Fee Schedule, Community Health Plans and Insurance Reimbursement.

    We look forward to engaging the legislators and the EMS Community this session.

    Legislative priorities.pdf

  • 04/01/2022 10:50 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Are you or someone you know looking for EMS certification classes?

    You can find EMS certification classes via the online search:  here.

    You can also find important EMS Resources on the DOH/BEMS resource page:  here.


  • 03/24/2021 11:17 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

    As many of you know, the President and Governor Wolf have stated raising the minimum wage to $15/hr is a priority.

    At the federal level, the increase was originally included in the stimulus package but due to a parliamentary procedure, the minimum wage increase has to be removed.  However, the democrats and others have indicated that this is an item they will move forward in the future.

    At the state level, Governor Wolf has indicated this item in on his legislator priorities in the current state budget negotiations.

    The Professional/Agency Relations Committee has developed the attached Impact Statement for members use in a communication campaign to federal/state legislators AND the media.  This campaign will focus on this unified message that will be sent on the same day across the state to gain the attention of all our legislators and media outlets.

    The dates for this campaign are Wednesday, March 24thto Wednesday, March 31st with a weekly reminder to your legislator to consider increasing the reimbursements for EMS PRIOR to increasing the minimum wage.

    Starting March 24, 2021 we are asking you to send the impact statement to your state and federal legislators as well as your local media outlets.  In addition, we are sharing with other states/organizations to encourage their participation in this campaign:  a ground swell at the state and national level to gain attention!

    The statement is included in a word document so that you can easily add your contact information prior to sending.

    Impact Statement on Raising the Minimum Wage.pdf

    Impact Statement on Raising the Minimum Wage plain.docx

    Some articles of interest/reference:

    1. https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/25/business/costco-minimum-wage-workers/index.html
    2. https://www.inquirer.com/politics/nation/stimulus-coronavirus-minimum-wage-20210226.html

    Please share this information with all of your colleagues.

    The AAP would like to thank the Professional/Agency Relations Committee - Impact Statement Task Force Members for developing this statement: 

    Stephanie Hosack-Shearer and Doug Johnson, Albion Volunteer Fire Department; Tim Hinchcliff, Burholme EMS; Derrick Hall, Greater Valley EMS; Phil Salamone, Lower Alsace EMS; Evan Resnikoff, Newtown Ambulance


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