A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide payments to Medicare ambulance suppliers of the full cost or furnishing such services, to provide payments to rural ambulance providers, and suppliers to account for the cost of serving areas with low population density, and for other purposes.
Medicare Ambulance Payment Reform and Rural Equity Act of 2004 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) revise ambulance payment rates; and (2) provide additional payments for providers furnishing ambulance services in rural areas.
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to review the system for adjusting payments for rural ambulance services to determine their adequacy and appropriateness.
Amends SSA title XVIII with respect to a Secretary-specified uniform coding system identifying furnished ambulance services for purposes of a fee schedule. Directs the Secretary to establish a system or systems for the coding of claims for ambulance services for which payment is made, including a code set specifying the medical condition of the individual who is transported and the level of service that is appropriate for the transportation of an individual with that medical condition. Requires the code set to take into account the list of medical conditions developed in the course of the negotiated rulemaking process. (Current law authorizes the Secretary to require the claim for any ambulance services to include a code (or codes) under a uniform coding system specified by the Secretary, but does not require the establishment of such a coding system.)
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
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