The time is now for you to CALL your Senators regarding including extensions of Medicare ambulance relief in health care reform legislation.

Please call your Senators even if they are already cosponsors of the Medicare Ambulance Access Preservation Act (S. 1066). The Senate Finance Committee has nearly finalized their draft bill on health care reform and it is uncertain as to whether Medicare ambulance relief is included. So please call your Senators today!

All the temporary Medicare ambulance relief provisions expire at the end of this year. This includes the 2% urban and 3% rural increases, the "super rural" bonus payment of an additional 22.6% to the base rate and the remaining partial relief from the regional fee schedule. It is therefore critical that Congress extend Medicare ambulance relief before this happens.

NAEMT fully support S. 1066 and is working with the American Ambulance Association for its passage. Members are asked to use the AAA online phone call system to contact their U.S. Senators. Simply go to: http://capwiz.com/the-aaa/callalert/index.tt?alertid=13770741

The AAA online phone call tool will take only minutes for you to call the offices of your two Senators. All you will need to do is enter your zip code and the tool will determine your Senators and provide their phone numbers and talking points. Once you are done with one call, it will direct you to details for your other Senator.