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The rules say that plans must pay for a medical service or item if regular Medicare would pay for it in this case. 
You can find this rule at 42 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Section 422.101. 
 
The rules say that ambulance services are only covered when the patient's clinical condition is such that other 
methods of transport are contraindicated. You can find this rule at 42 CFR Section 410.40(e). 
 
The rules say that ambulance transportation is covered when the patient's condition requires the vehicle itself 
or the specialized services of the trained ambulance personnel. A requirement of coverage is that the needed 
services of the ambulance personnel were provided and clear clinical documentation validates their medical 
need and their provision in the record of the service (usually the trip/run sheet). 
 
Emergency Ambulance Services 
 
Emergency ambulance services are a covered benefit when the services meet the medical necessity 
requirements as outlined in the CMS manuals and Federal Register sections listed in the CMS National 
Coverage Policy section above. Please refer to the listed references for full coverage details. 
 
The patient's condition is an emergency that renders the patient unable to be safely transported to the hospital 
in a moving vehicle (other than an ambulance) for the amount of time required to complete the transport. 
Emergency ambulance services are services provided after the sudden onset of a medical condition. For the 
purposes of this LCD, acute signs or symptoms of sufficient severity must manifest the emergency medical 
condition such that the absence of immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to result in one or 
more of the following: 
 
    Place the patient's health in serious jeopardy. 
    Cause serious impairment to bodily functions. 
    Cause serious dysfunction of any body organ or part. 
 
Covered destinations for emergency ambulance services  
 
Please refer to CMS IOM Publication 100-02, Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, Chapter 10, Ambulance 
Services, Section 3 for information on covered destinations. 
 
Non-Emergency Ambulance Service 
 
Non-emergency ambulance services may be those that are scheduled in advance - scheduled services being 
either repetitive or non-repetitive. 
 
Refer to CFR, Title 42, Chapter IV, Subchapter B, Part 410, Subpart B, Section 410.40 for full details 
regarding non-emergency ambulance services. 
 
One condition of coverage is that the beneficiary be bed-confined. Please refer to CMS IOM Publication 100-
02, Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, Chapter 10, Section 10.2.3 for additional information on bed-
confinement. 
 
Statements about the patient's bed-confined status must be validated in the record with contemporaneous 
objective observations and findings as to the patient's functional physical or mental limitations that have 
rendered him bed-bound. 
 
Ambulance transportation for services excluded from SNF consolidated billing must meet the criteria as 
reasonable and necessary as indicated in CMS IOM Publication 100-04, Medicare Claims Processing Manual, 
Chapter 6, Section 20.3.1. 
 
Refer to CMS IOM Publications 100-04, Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 15, Section 10.4 and 
100-02, Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, Chapter 10, Section 10.3.3 for information on ambulance transport 
for a beneficiary who is a SNF resident in a stay not covered by Part A. 
 
Appropriate Facilities 
 
CMS IOM Publication 100-02, Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, Chapter 10, Section 10.3.6 outlines coverage 
for ambulance transports to appropriate facilities. 
 
Special Note Regarding Patients Transported To and From Hemodialysis Centers: 
 
Only a fraction (approximately 10 percent) of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients on chronic 
hemodialysis requires ambulance transportation to and from hemodialysis sessions. The presence of ESRD and 
the requirement for hemodialysis do not alone qualify a patient for ambulance transportation. Medicare 
payment requires patients transported to and from hemodialysis centers to have other conditions such as those 
described in the tables below and requires adequate documentation of those conditions in the ambulance 
supplier's trip/run sheet and in the medical records of other providers involved with the patient's care. 
 
Physician Certification Statement (PCS) 
 
For scheduled and non-scheduled non-emergency ambulance transports, providers of ambulance transportation 
must obtain a written statement (PCS) from the patient?s attending physician certifying that medical necessity 
requirements for ambulance transportation are met. Refer to CFR, Title 42, Chapter IV, Subchapter B, Part 
410, Subpart B, Section 410.40 for full details regarding PCS requirements. 
 
Tables of Medical Conditions 
 
Medicare has established a list of medical conditions to assist with communicating patient's conditions to the 
Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs). Though not all-inclusive, the lists contain medical conditions 
for which ambulance transportation is commonly required and can be used to judge relative severity of 
conditions not listed. Please refer to the CMS IOM 100-04 Publication, Medicare Claims Processing Manual, 
Chapter 15, Section 40 for more information and for the link to the medical conditions. 
 
Medicare requires the trip/run sheet to include a description of the patient's symptoms and physical findings in 
sufficient detail as to demonstrate conditions such as those described in the lists. 
 
Special Considerations Regarding Beneficiary Death 
 
Please see CMS IOM, Publication 100-02, Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, Chapter 10, Section 10.2.6 for 
information on ambulance services and the death of a beneficiary. 
 
Limitations 
 
Medicare does not cover the following services: 
 
    Transportation via Mobile Intensive Care Unit (MICU) (if billed under Medicare Part A). 
    Parking fees. 
    Tolls for bridges, tunnels and highways. 
    Medicare does not provide payment for Ambulance response and treatment, no transport. 
 
Non-emergency ambulance transportation is not covered for patients who are restricted to bed rest by a 
physician's instructions but who do not meet the criteria as outlined in the manuals. 
 
Per regulation, ambulance services are not based only on the diagnosis. In addition to the diagnosis meeting 
medical necessity the requirement that any other means of transportation is contraindicated must also be met. 
Therefore, in order to support medical necessity, all ambulance transports require dual diagnosis codes. Billing 
and Coding: Ambulance Services (Ground Ambulance), A54574 provides a list of suggested primary diagnosis 
codes as well as the required dual diagnosis codes. Please refer to the billing and coding article for proper 
billing and coding instructions. 
 
Non-emergency ambulance transportation is not covered if transportation is provided for the patient who is 
transported to receive a service that could have been safely and effectively provided in the point of origin 
(residence, Skilled Nursing Facility [SNF], hospital, etc.). Such transportation is not covered even if the patient 
could only have gone for the service by ambulance. 
 
For frequency limitations please refer to the Utilization Guidelines section of the LCD. 
 
Notice: Services performed must meet all of the indications and limitations stated in this policy, the general 
requirements for medical necessity as stated in CMS payment policy manuals, any and all existing CMS 
national coverage determinations, and all Medicare payment rules. Please refer to the article Billing and 
Coding: Ambulance Services (Ground Ambulance), A54574 for appropriate CPT and diagnosis code reporting. 
 
You can find this information in Medicare's Local Coverage Determination (LCD):Ambulance Services 
(Ground Ambulance) (L35162). 
 
If you want to read these Medicare rules, you can go to this website www.medicareappeal.com.