Does Medicare Cover Ambulance Services and Emergency Medical Care?

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If you’re a Medicare beneficiary, familiarizing yourself with your coverage plan can help you prepare for future medical treatments or hospitalizations — even if you can’t quite predict how your health will change down the line. Emergency medicine services, such as ambulance rides or visits to the emergency room, can be tricky to plan for in advance, but Medicare will usually help pay for them when you are in need.

Before you find yourself en route to the ER, read up on Medicare’s coverage and coverage limitations for ambulance rides and ER visits.

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Does Medicare Cover Ambulance Services?

Medicare will partially cover ground ambulance services for beneficiaries at times when other types of transportation pose health risks. This can include emergency situations when your health is suddenly in serious danger and you are unsafe to travel in another type of vehicle, as well as nonemergency situations when you have a health condition that requires ambulance transportation.

Medicare-covered ambulance rides may be to or from medical facilities, including:

— Hospitals

— Critical access hospitals

— Rural emergency hospitals

Skilled nursing facilities

Whichever facility you need, Medicare says it will only cover the cost of the ride to the “nearest appropriate” location. If you are transported farther away, Medicare may pay for part of but not the full ride.

For coverage of nonemergency transportation, be prepared to have a written order from your doctor affirming that ambulance transportation is medically necessary for your situation. This could include a scenario like hospital to nursing home transport, if you are being discharged after a procedure but are no longer experiencing an emergency.

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Does Medicare cover emergency air transportation to hospitals?

Medicare is less likely to cover air ambulance transportation, like transportation to a hospital in a helicopter or airplane, than it is to cover ground ambulance transportation. However, it may cover emergency air transport in certain circumstances, including:

— If you can’t be easily reached and picked up by a ground ambulance

— If obstacles like heavy traffic or long distances prevent you from being quickly transported to a medical facility via ground ambulance transportation

[READ: Emergency Room, Urgent Care or Primary Care Physician?]

How Much Does an Ambulance Ride Cost on Medicare?

If you have Medicare, the cost of an ambulance ride can vary based on your exact plan and how much of your deductible you’ve already met.

Under original Medicare, ambulance rides fall under Medicare Part B, which pertains to coverage of outpatient treatments. Medicare Part B has a yearly deductible that you need to meet before you can receive coverage for your ride. This deducible is evaluated each year and has increased over time.

The 2025 Medicare Part B deductible is $257, which is $17 higher than the year prior — and $178.80 higher than the Medicare Part B deductible 20 years ago, in 2005.

After you meet that deductible, and assuming you meet the qualifying criteria to have your ambulance ride covered by Medicare, Medicare will cover 80% of the Medicare-approved cost of your ambulance ride. You will be left with the remaining 20% of the out-of-pocket fee.

While this is a pretty standard approach, Medicare notes that there are some exceptions to the rule. If you are transported by an ambulance company connected to a critical access hospital, for instance, payment amounts may vary.

Supplemental coverage for ambulance services

Additionally, if you purchase a Medigap or other supplemental Medicare plan, you could reduce your total fees for ambulance rides. Depending on the plan you purchase, your insurance could cover all or part of your copay or you may have a different deductible.

“Typically with supplemental plans, they will cover a certain amount (of the service) or there will be some sort of deductible that you have to satisfy,” says Nicole Toneatti, a Columbus, Ohio-based licensed insurance agent with HealthMarkets Insurance Agency.

But while exact coverage can vary by plan, it should be consistent across providers — meaning insurance companies such as UnitedHealthcare, Aetna and Humana. For example, “Plan G functions the same way on all carriers,” Toneatti explains. “That is a government regulation. The government says: Hey, if you’re going to provide plan G plans to folks, this is how it needs to be structured.”

Medicare Advantage and ambulance coverage

If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, the cost of your ambulance ride may differ from someone on original Medicare. Your Medicare Advantage plan may have a deductible to satisfy before coverage sets in and/or require you to pay a fixed copay for ambulance coverage.

Can you get a free ambulance ride?

Depending on where you live in the United States, you may be able to secure a free ride to the ER from providers in your county. Toneatti says she often recommends clients do some research on their locality’s rules and regulations regarding hospital transportation. Whether you’re on Medicare or not, free and safe rides to the hospital could save you money and stress about your health.

Whenever she goes through a Medicare or Medicare Advantage client’s summary of benefits, Toneatti says she makes sure to let people know if she is aware that their county provides free transportation for emergency care, as this could impact their decisions for or against purchasing a supplemental plan.

If you don’t have an insurance agent, Toneatti suggests doing a quick online search to see if this applies in your area as well. “In some counties, if you are a resident of that county and you paid into the taxes of that county, ground transportation is not billed to country dwellers,” Toneatti says.

[READ: Does Medicare Require Prior Authorization?]

Does Medicare Cover Emergency Medical Care?

Medicare will typically cover ER visits for beneficiaries who are injured, have fallen suddenly ill or have an illness that is rapidly worsening.

As with ambulance services, ER visits are covered under Medicare Part B. Likewise, you’ll need to meet your yearly Part B deductible before Medicare steps in to help pay for your visit. Once it’s met, you pay a copay for your ER services and 20% of the Medicare-approved amount for your treatments.

Exactly how much money that 20% amounts to will range based on what you’re being treated for — and in the ER, treatments can vary widely.

When you look for something very specific like how much an ER visit would cost, you won’t find a set number, Toneatti says. “Because, well, what’s the emergency for? A broken toe or broken arm — or are you having a heart attack? What are we dealing with here?”

More advanced treatments for more severe emergencies can come with higher bills.

When ER visits turn into hospitalizations

If your ER visit quickly progresses to a hospitalization, your ER visit will be billed differently. That’s because inpatient visits fall under Medicare Part A. Under Part A, you will no longer pay a copay for your ER services.

“If the doctor admits you to the same hospital for the same condition that day — or within three days of your ER visit — the copayment is typically waived,” says Whitney Stidom, vice president of Medicare enablement at eHealth. “That doesn’t mean inpatient stays are free, of course. There are fees associated with inpatient stays under Medicare as well.”

Under Medicare Part A, your first 60 days of an inpatient stay are $0 after you’ve met your Part A deductible — which is $1,676 in 2025. Starting at day 61, out-of-pocket costs increase to $419 a day. For day 91 and on, the cost is $838 a day.

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Does Medicare Cover Ambulance Services and Emergency Medical Care? originally appeared on usnews.com

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