Tester Receives Award for his Work to Protect Rural Veterans’ Access to Emergency Transportation Services

(Big Sandy, Mont.) - The American Ambulance Association (AAA) has awarded Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester its 2024 Legislative Recognition Award for his leadership in ensuring veterans in Montana and across rural America continue to have uninterrupted access to lifesaving emergency medical transportation services.

"It's an honor to receive the Legislative Recognition Award from the American Ambulance Association, who has been a great partner in our fight to ensure Montana veterans' access to emergency transportation services," said Chairman Tester. "Emergency ground and air transportation services in Montana and rural America can be the difference between life and death, and the fact is, VA's rushed roll-out of its rate change for these services could have been the final straw for providers serving Montana. I'm proud of our work to make sure VA gets this rule right for veterans and anyone who calls rural America home, and I'll never stop fighting to make sure DC bureaucrats take rural America into account when they draw up policies that are going to impact our veterans."

"Senator Tester's leadership on this issue has been instrumental in advancing our mission to preserve emergency medical services for veterans and entire communities," said AAA President Randy Strozyk. "His dedication to supporting our nation's heroes exemplifies the kind of leadership we need to ensure that all veterans have access to timely and efficient emergency care."

Since day one, Tester has continuously pushed back against a proposed Biden Administration rule to change Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) reimbursement rates for emergency medical transportation services, including ground and air ambulances. This rule was initially set to go into effect in February 2024, and its hasty timeline could have negatively impacted emergency medical transportation services and their ability to serve veterans in rural and hard-to-reach areas, including Montana. In 2023, Tester successfully secured an amendment to the 2024 government funding bill to delay it from going into effect and ensure the rule was implemented in a way that would not negatively impact rural America. He also introduced his bipartisan VA Emergency Transportation Access Act to bar VA from reducing rates of pay and reimbursement for special mode transportation providers, including ground and air ambulances, unless the Department meets certain requirements that ensure rate changes will not reduce veterans' access to this essential service.

Following Tester's sustained efforts, VA recently announced it is delaying the rule until February 2029. This delay will give the Department more time to work with stakeholders and Congress to implement the rule in a way that would ensure access and availability of emergency transportation to veterans and civilians, especially in rural America. The previous implementation timeline of rate reductions could have resulted in emergency transportation providers severely reducing services, closing bases, or even billing veterans for the remainder of their costs in order to shoulder the financial impacts of this change.<_o3a_p>