Air Ambulance Cost Reporting Delayed Until Rules are Finalized

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 requires group health plans to report specific air ambulance claim data, as summarized in our prior articles available here and here. As noted in our prior articles, proposed rules published in September 2021 called for group health plans to submit their air ambulance claim reports for the 2022 calendar year by March 31, 2023, but a delay in this timing seemed likely given that neither final rules nor reporting instructions had been released. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently updated its website, which can be accessed here, to indicate that data elements and data collection deadlines will be published in final rules. The website specifically provides that data collection will not begin until after the final rules are published. This informal CMS website update effectively delays air ambulance cost reporting for an indeterminate amount of time until final rules specify a new deadline.

To review all of the major CAA requirements, you can access our checklist for plan sponsors here and our checklist for plan service providers here.

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