Your Medicare Coverage

Is my test, item, or service covered?

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How often is it covered?

Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) covers emergency ground ambulance transportation when you need to be transported to a hospital or skilled nursing facility (SNF) for medically necessary services, and transportation in any other vehicle could endanger your health.

Medicare will pay for emergency ambulance transportation in an airplane or helicopter to a hospital if you require immediate and rapid ambulance transportation and:

• Your pickup location is hard to get to by ground transportation, or
• Large distances or other obstacles, like heavy traffic, could stop you from getting care quickly if you traveled by ground ambulance

Medicare will only cover ambulance services (ground or air) to the nearest appropriate medical facility that’s able to give you the care you need.

In some cases, Medicare may cover non-emergency ambulance services from your home or a medical facility to get care for a health condition that requires you to be transported only by ambulance. 

Who's eligible?

Your costs in Original Medicare

You pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount, and the Part B deductible applies. All ambulance suppliers must accept assignment. Medicare's payment may be different if you're transported by a critical access hospital (CAH), or by an entity that's owned and operated by a CAH.

If you choose to be transported to a facility farther away than the nearest appropriate medical facility that’s able to give you the care you need, Medicare's payment will be based on the charge to the closest appropriate facility. If no local facilities are able to give you the care you need, Medicare will help pay for transportation to the nearest facility outside your local area.

Related resources

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