Extra ambulance funding important in rural areas

An amendment to extend extra funding for Medicare payments to ambulance services is particularly important for rural communities, Sen. Charles Schumer said Wednesday. He's looking to get a five-year extension of extra funding for ambulance providers added to the "doc fix" bill. That's a measure that increases Medicare payments for doctors to offset a change in the formula introduced in 1997. The extra funding is set to expire Jan. 1, 2014, which would lead to a three percent cut for rural providers. Even with the extra money in place now, a 2007 report from government accountants said ambulance providers were getting 6 percent less than actual cost of services. Click here to read the full article written by James Post.