“PROTECTING ACCESS TO MEDICARE ACT OF 2014”

 

On April 1, 2014, President Obama signed into law the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014.  The law prevents a scheduled payment reduction for physicians and certain other provider groups that was otherwise scheduled to go into effect on April 1, 2014.  The extension of the temporary adjustments for ground ambulance (2% urban, 3% rural, and the super rural bonus) was included as part of this legislation.  This most recent extension will be applicable to all ground ambulance transports provided with dates of service on or before March 31, 2015. 

 

With the passage of this legislation, there is no longer any need for CMS to delay the processing of claims with dates of service on or after April 1, 2014.  Therefore, it is expected that claims will continue to be processed without delay.