CARE Act of 2025
Key claim: The CARE Act of 2025 would require CMMI to test a five-year Medicare payment model for ground ambulance services dispatched for emergencies that do not result in patient transport, with payment rates generally aligned to transport rates, and would direct GAO to report on beneficiary EMS access and model impacts.
Abstract
(HR2538 · 119th Congress) Comprehensive Alternative Response for Emergencies Act of 2025 or the CARE Act of 2025 This 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. Latest action (2025-04-01): Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Why this matters
Medicare currently pays ground ambulance providers only when a patient is transported, creating a financial disincentive for treat-in-place and telehealth-supported EMS responses. A CMMI model paying for non-transport emergency dispatches at transport-equivalent rates would materially change EMS reimbursement economics and could affect beneficiary access to on-scene emergency care, particularly in rural areas.