Cost analysis for CPT A0434 — Specialty care transport (sct)
Average Medicare Payment
$695.59
2023 data
Total Payments (2023)
$48.9M
Services (2023)
68.7K
Price Change (2014–2023)
+22.2%
| Year | Avg Payment | Total Payments | Services | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | $569.24 | $54.4M | 93.3K | — |
| 2015 | $577.58 | $53.6M | 90.6K | +1.5% |
| 2016 | $578.25 | $53.2M | 90.0K | +0.1% |
| 2017 | $581.65 | $54.6M | 92.0K | +0.6% |
| 2018 | $586.59 | $54.1M | 90.5K | +0.8% |
| 2019 | $601.97 | $56.6M | 92.3K | +2.6% |
| 2020 | $615.25 | $52.0M | 82.9K | +2.2% |
| 2021 | $619.73 | $46.9M | 74.0K | +0.7% |
| 2022 | $642.40 | $44.9M | 68.1K | +3.7% |
| 2023 | $695.59 | $48.9M | 68.7K | +8.3% |
The most expensive state pays 1.3x more than the cheapest for this procedure. CA averages $783.78 vs MS at $622.81.
| State | Avg Payment | Total Payments | Services | Providers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CA | $783.78 | $8.8M | 11.3K | 60 |
| NY | $773.29 | $3.5M | 4.5K | 29 |
| MN | $768.90 | $842.7K | 1.1K | 19 |
| NJ | $760.73 | $3.5M | 4.6K | 7 |
| CO | $751.69 | $145.8K | 194 | 6 |
| MA | $738.90 | $3.0M | 4.0K | 24 |
| OR | $738.67 | $949.2K | 1.3K | 13 |
| WA | $737.75 | $1.3M | 1.8K | 11 |
| MD | $737.54 | $1.9M | 2.5K | 12 |
| CT | $734.06 | $580.6K | 791 | 10 |
| NH | $707.13 | $314.7K | 445 | 5 |
| AZ | $698.63 | $746.1K | 1.1K | 11 |
| PA | $693.05 | $634.1K | 915 | 10 |
| VT | $691.96 | $193.7K | 280 | 7 |
| ID | $691.78 | $337.6K | 488 | 13 |
| NV | $690.33 | $616.5K | 893 | 8 |
| IL | $685.34 | $4.2M | 6.1K | 35 |
| UT | $678.99 | $261.4K | 385 | 5 |
| TX | $676.07 | $2.2M | 3.2K | 43 |
| WI | $673.10 | $1.6M | 2.4K | 24 |
| ME | $672.72 | $458.8K | 682 | 16 |
| VA | $669.56 | $381.6K | 570 | 8 |
| MI | $666.77 | $2.1M | 3.1K | 25 |
| NE | $666.10 | $359.0K | 539 | 3 |
| FL | $665.99 | $2.3M | 3.4K | 29 |
| GA | $660.27 | $528.9K | 801 | 9 |
| MO | $658.27 | $156.7K | 238 | 5 |
| NC | $655.65 | $783.5K | 1.2K | 15 |
| NM | $655.33 | $169.1K | 258 | 4 |
| OH | $646.88 | $670.2K | 1.0K | 12 |
| SC | $646.17 | $321.1K | 497 | 6 |
| IN | $641.93 | $735.7K | 1.1K | 11 |
| OK | $640.47 | $815.3K | 1.3K | 8 |
| AR | $640.03 | $449.3K | 702 | 10 |
| TN | $637.43 | $293.9K | 461 | 12 |
| AL | $637.29 | $385.6K | 605 | 15 |
| LA | $634.79 | $995.3K | 1.6K | 4 |
| KY | $628.05 | $233.0K | 371 | 13 |
| WV | $627.50 | $566.0K | 902 | 17 |
| MS | $622.81 | $394.2K | 633 | 7 |
| Provider | Specialty | State | Payments | Services | Avg/Service |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Superior Air-Ground Ambulance Service, Inc | Ambulance Service Provider | IL | $1.8M | 2.5K | $702.00 |
| Seniorcare Emergency Medical Services Inc. | Ambulance Service Provider | NY | $1.1M | 1.4K | $788.66 |
| Atlantic Ambulance Corp. | Ambulance Service Provider | NJ | $1.1M | 1.4K | $768.39 |
| Brewster Ambulance Service Inc. | Ambulance Service Provider | MA | $996.9K | 1.3K | $751.81 |
| Exceptional Medical Transportation | Ambulance Service Provider | NJ | $916.1K | 1.2K | $748.41 |
| Premier Medical Transport, Inc. | Ambulance Service Provider | CA | $899.0K | 1.2K | $779.02 |
| Amwest Inc. | Ambulance Service Provider | CA | $821.8K | 1.1K | $778.23 |
| Richmond County Ambulance Service, Inc | Ambulance Service Provider | NY | $805.7K | 1.0K | $789.09 |
| On Time Ambulance, Inc. | Ambulance Service Provider | NJ | $737.9K | 967 | $763.04 |
| Acadian Ambulance Service, Inc. | Ambulance Service Provider | LA | $726.5K | 1.2K | $629.52 |
| Eastwest Proto Inc | Ambulance Service Provider | CA | $705.9K | 906 | $779.14 |
| Superior Air-Ground Ambulance Service Of Michigan, Inc | Ambulance Service Provider | MI | $676.7K | 990 | $683.56 |
| Ambitrans Medical Transport , Inc. | Ambulance Service Provider | FL | $607.5K | 909 | $668.26 |
| Acadian Ambulance Service Of Texas Llc | Ambulance Service Provider | TX | $564.9K | 838 | $674.08 |
| North Star Emergency Services, Inc. | Ambulance Service Provider | CA | $467.6K | 583 | $802.03 |
| Olympic Ambulance Service Inc. | Ambulance Service Provider | WA | $467.5K | 650 | $719.17 |
| New England Life Flight, Inc. | Ambulance Service Provider | MA | $461.8K | 620 | $744.78 |
| Royal Ambulance Inc. | Ambulance Service Provider | CA | $439.7K | 506 | $868.96 |
| Elite Medical Transportation Llc | Ambulance Service Provider | IL | $438.9K | 629 | $697.82 |
| Life Flight Network Llc | Ambulance Service Provider | OR | $427.6K | 574 | $744.95 |
Based on the data, CPT A0434 shows a 1.3x variation in pricing across states — relatively consistent by Medicare standards.
Costs have increased 22.2% since 2014. Medicare's fee schedule attempts to standardize pricing, though some variation is expected due to geographic cost-of-living adjustments and practice expense differences.
This analysis is based on publicly available CMS data and does not account for patient complexity, comorbidities, or facility-specific factors that may justify pricing differences.
Note: All data is from publicly available Medicare records. OpenMedicare is an independent journalism project not affiliated with CMS.