Summary

Requires the federal innovation center (CMMI) to create and test a five-year Medicare model that pays ambulance providers for treating patients on scene when an ambulance responds to an emergency but the patient is not transported. Payments must generally match what Medicare would have paid for a transport, allow certain telehealth services to treat the patient site as an originating site for fees, and must be implemented within two years; a federal audit report is required four years after the model starts.

Key Points

• Requires CMMI to create and test a five-year CARE Model within two years.
• Allows Medicare Part B payment to ambulance providers for on-scene emergency treatment when no transport occurs.
• Payment rates must generally align with amounts Medicare would pay for an ambulance transport.
• Telehealth provided with on-scene treatment counts the patient site as an originating site for fees.
• Comptroller General must report to congressional committees four years after model start, analyzing access, outcomes, and recommendations.
• Payments allowed only when services meet the Secretary's emergency call definition and state/local licensure/protocols.
• The model is added under existing CMMI authority and aims to test alternative emergency response payment structures.
• No direct appropriation or permanent Medicare benefit change is made; this is a time-limited demonstration model.

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