CARE Act of 2025

Key Points

• Medicare currently only pays for ambulance services when the patient is transported to a hospital. This bill creates a 5-year test program that would pay ambulance crews for treating patients on the scene of an emergency without requiring a hospital trip.
• The program allows paramedics to treat patients at home or on scene, including using video calls with doctors, which can be faster and more comfortable for people who don't need a full emergency room visit.
• Payment rates for on-scene care would be set to roughly match what Medicare would have paid if the patient had been transported to a hospital, so ambulance providers are not financially penalized for treating people on the spot.
• A government report is required within 4 years of the program starting. It will evaluate how well the program worked, compare patient outcomes to traditional emergency transport, and include recommendations for improving emergency medical services.
• The bill was introduced by Senators Collins and Welch and referred to the Senate Finance Committee. The CMMI (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation) would be required to launch this model within 2 years of the bill becoming law.