Protecting Air Ambulance Services for Americans Act of 2025

This bill updates how Medicare pays for air ambulance rides. It lets the health department change payment rates based on real cost and usage data from air ambulance providers. These providers would have to report their costs, how often they fly Medicare patients, and the money they receive, once every three years. If the department changes rates, it must get input from stakeholders and use the collected data. The goal is to make payments better reflect true costs so services can stay available when people need them, including in rural areas .

The bill also sets deadlines. The health department must finish a rule to collect air ambulance data within six months of the bill becoming law. After data collection begins, the Government Accountability Office must report within one year on average costs per base and per flight, who pays for these rides, whether Medicare payments are adequate, and how costs vary by location, and suggest ways to improve the payment system .

• Who is affected: Medicare patients who may need emergency air transport; air ambulance providers that serve them .
• What changes: Medicare payments can be revised using newly required cost and use data; providers must submit data every three years; a federal report will assess costs and payment adequacy .
• When: Data rule due within six months of enactment; federal report due one year after data collection starts .