Over the weekend, Congress passed, and the President signed a Continuing Resolution (CR), to fund the federal government through March 2025. The CR included several healthcare provisions of interest to EMS.
These provisions only carry through March, 2025, so please stay engaged with your national associations as they work diligently to make continue these important provisions beyond March 2025!
Full text of the CR is available here.
EMS Interest Items Included in the CR:
Provider Payment Policies:
- Extends ambulance add-on payments through March 31, 2025
- Extends increased payments for low-volume hospitals through March 31, 2025
Telehealth Flexibilities:
- Extends Medicare telehealth geographic and originating site flexibilities through March 31, 2025
- Continues expanded practitioner eligibility for telehealth services through March 31, 2025
Extends audio-only telehealth services through March 31, 2025
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Congress votes to keep government open, abandons health package
Michael McAuliff
December 20, 2024
https://www.modernhealthcare.com/politics-policy/spending-bill-house-healthcare-package
Congress overcame two failures in the House and advanced a last-minute measure to keep government funded into next year on Saturday, but abandoned a set of ambitious health policies promised just days ago.
The bill that debuted on the eve of a federal shutdown after a week of turmoil will have limited effects on the healthcare system. The health provisions mostly consist of short-term delays of Medicare and Medicaid payment cuts set to kick in Jan. 1 and brief extensions of several programs. President Joe Biden endorsed the measure.
Telehealth and hospital-at-home providers will remain eligible for Medicare reimbursement until March 31 under the bill. Those authorities would have extended for two years and five years, respectively, under the bipartisan deal House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced Tuesday but scrapped after President-elect Donald Trump came out against it.
The new measure will postpone scheduled cuts to Medicaid disproportionate share payments for safety-net hospitals and extend special Medicare reimbursements for low-volume hospitals and Medicare-dependent hospitals until April 1. It sustains funding for community health centers and pandemic preparedness programs until March 31.
