Medicare payment calculation for air ambulance billing

Payment for Air Ambulance

Each type of air ambulance service has a base rate. There is no conversion factor (CF) applicable to air ambulance services. Also, air ambulance services have no RVUs. The Geographic Adjustment Factor (GAF) is applied in the same manner to air ambulance as ground services. However, for air ambulance services, the applicable GPCI is applied to 50% of each of the base rates (fixed and rotary wing).

Air Ambulance Rural Adjustments

The payment rates for air ambulance services where the POP is in a rural area are greater than in an urban area. For air ambulance services the rural adjustment is an increase of 50 percent to the unadjusted fee schedule amount, e.g., 1.5 times both the applicable air service base rate and the total mileage amount.