Health care reform! Well, it has finally happened. Health care has been at the center of the national policy discourse for over a year now, and it will likely be the subject of debate for months to come. Advocates is pleased to report that the reform bill includes important measures that will impact field EMS, including a Regionalization of Emergency Care Pilot Program and the restoration of Medicare ambulance payments. In the meantime, ED overcrowding, inadequate reimbursement for EMS and staffing challenges persist, and will continue to be a focus of Advocates' federal agenda (see discussion of field EMS legislation below.)

As usual, Advocates has been working hard to get various appropriations and appropriations report language into the FY 2011 appropriations bills. Click here for a copy of AEMS' funding priorities. For example, we are working to secure increased NEMSIS funding, as well as new funding for the regional pilot programs and the Rural Firefighter and EMS Assistance Program. We have also requested report language that would direct more dollars to field EMS from existing programs to support field EMS disaster and pandemic preparedness.

While all of the federal legislative priorities I have mentioned are very important, the Advocates Board has decided to also develop comprehensive field EMS legislation to help advance the character of the discussion about field EMS in Congress. It is our hope that in the long-term, this advocacy effort will further the EMS system development effort in the areas of innovation and preparedness, quality, patient and field EMS personnel safety, system integration, professional development, and system finance. Advocates intends for the legislation to be unifying for all field EMS stakeholders and hopes to have a draft bill in the coming months.

It is very exciting to see the EMS Day on the Hill initiated by NAEMT and supported by AEMS taking off. Tuesday, May 4 will be a historic day for field EMS with providers from all over the nation going to Capitol Hill to meet with their members of Congress. I hope you and your organizations will have the opportunity to participate with us.