(a) Waiver authority.—Section 1135(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b–5(b)) is amended—

(1) in the first sentence—

(A) in paragraph (7), by striking “and” at the end;

(B) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and

(C) by inserting after paragraph (8) the following new paragraph:

“(9) any requirement under section 1861(s)(7) or section 1834(l) that an ambulance service include the transport of an individual to the extent necessary to allow payment for ground ambulance services furnished in response to a 911 call (or the equivalent in areas without a 911 call system) in cases in which an individual would have been transported to a destination permitted under Medicare regulations (as described in section 410.40 to title 42, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations)) but such transport did not occur as a result of community-wide emergency medical service (EMS) protocols due to the public health emergency described in subsection (g)(1)(B).”; and

(2) in the flush matter at the end, by adding at the end the following: “Ground ambulance services for which payment is made pursuant to paragraph (9) shall be paid at the base rate that would have been paid under the fee schedule established under 1834(l) (excluding any mileage payment) if the individual had been so transported and, with respect to ambulance services furnished by a critical access hospital or an entity described in paragraph (8) of such section, at the amount that otherwise would be paid under such paragraph.”.

(b) Emergency period exception.—Section 1135(g)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b–5(g)(1)(B)) is amended, in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking “subsection (b)(8)” and inserting “paragraphs (8) and (9) of subsection (b)”.