An amendment to extend extra funding for Medicare payments to ambulance services is particularly important for rural communities, Sen. Charles Schumer said Wednesday. He’s looking to get a five-year extension of extra funding for ambulance providers added to the “doc fix” bill. That’s a measure that increases Medicare payments for doctors to offset a change in the formula introduced in 1997. The extra funding is set to expire Jan. 1, 2014, which would lead to a three percent cut for rural providers. Even with the extra money in place now, a 2007 report from government accountants said ambulance providers were getting 6 percent less than actual cost of services. Click here to read the full article written by James Post.