Legislation Introduced by Congresswoman DeLauro

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Summary

Medicare Paramedic Intercept Services Coverage Act of 2005

Congresswoman DeLauro introduced the Medicare Paramedic Intercept Services Coverage Act on June 22, 2005. Seniors in the Third District are still shortchanged because Medicare will not pay for the specialized and life saving care a Paramedic offers in an ambulance ride.

Currently, volunteer ambulance services are often only qualified to provide basic medical services and transport to the hospital. If the patient requires an advanced level of care the trip may have to include the services of a paramedic, an individual trained in advanced life support services. The paramedic either meets the volunteer ambulance en route or at the scene of the call and provides what is termed a “paramedic intercept service.”

In this situation, Medicare does not pay separately for paramedics as a secondary responder. As a result, seniors are often billed hundreds of dollars for paramedic services that Medicare does not cover, leaving them with enormous unexpected medical bills that they cannot afford to pay. Unless the law is changed, seniors will continue to pay these bills.

That is why Representative DeLauro introduced, along with Representative Todd Platts of Pennsylvania, the Medicare Paramedic Intercept Services Coverage Act of 2005, a bill that will make the changes necessary to eliminate these costly bills to our seniors. The bill would allow paramedic intercept services to apply for direct reimbursement from Medicare. This bill:

Clarifies that an intercept service consists of a qualified paramedic providing Advance Life Support (ALS) services in connection with and during ambulance transportation by an entity that is qualified to provide only Basic Life Support (BLS) services.
Requires both entities to be qualified under Medicare to provide their respective services, and requires that there be no commercial or employment relationship between the entity providing the ALS service and the entity providing the transportation.
Allows a paramedic intercept service to bill Medicare directly if the transportation services are provided by a community sponsored, non-profit ambulance organization.

When our senior citizens are sick or injured, they should not have the additional worry of costs associated with the emergency responders dispatched by a third party (i.e. a 911 Call Center.) They should be able to rely on Medicare to cover this cost, just as it does in more urban areas of the country.

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