Ground Ambulance Payment Landscape: Challenges and Policy Options
June 2, 2026
Ground ambulance transport is a critical piece of the US healthcare infrastructure and is currently facing several challenges, which may result in the loss of patient access to care. These life-saving services play a vital role in the patient care continuum and significantly impact acute care and long-term recovery. Often, at critical and tense moments before the patient is able to reach hospital care, ground ambulance paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) are the first point of healthcare contact for the patient. These medical professionals stabilize and treat patients to ensure they begin their care pathway smoothly and recover rapidly.
To address the challenges that the ground ambulance industry is experiencing today and lessen the impact of the various emerging issues, this report offers several recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders to consider.
