AIMHI President Rob Lawrence presented Congressman Jason Smith (R-MO), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, AIMHI's 2025 Legislator of the Year Award.

Rep. Smith, his staff and his committee have been exceptional advocates for EMS, introducing the Emergency Medical Services Reimbursement for On-Scene and Support Act (Medicare Reimbursement for Treatment in Place) and the Improving Access to Emergency Medical Services Act (Community Paramedicine funding bill).

His committee also hosted a field hearing on EMS and EMS reimbursement at an EMS facility where committee members heard 3 hours of testimony about EMS and the EMS reimbursement model.  Congressman Smith and his staff are ardent EMS advocates.

One of his key staff members, Ari Kirsh, accepted the award on behalf of Representative Smith. Ari has been the driving force behind much of the committee's EMS legislation work, and he attended, in full, the recent webinar on the results from the Ground Ambulance Data Collection System (GADCS) report.

Click here to see Ari's acceptance video message: https://youtube.com/shorts/GNPYN84Rbnw

Click here to watch the EMS segments of the March 2024 Ways and Means Committee field hearing: Ways and Means Committee Meeting EMS Focus 3 18 24