Cost
In 2002, the federal government increased the reimbursement for medical flights for Medicare and Medicaid patients. This caused an increase in the number of for-profit ambulance services, which charge much higher rates than non-profit hospitals and expanded services available to people with private health insurance. With lower reimbursements, hospitals could still operate the service as a loss leader because severely injured patients would be incurring significant charges for medical treatment. NPR cited one 2008 case where two patients were transported from the same accident scene to the same hospital, where the hospital charged $1,700 and the private service charged $13,000. [1]
Air Ambulance Membership Programs
Private air ambulance providers in the United States offer membership programs designed to reduce or eliminate the out-of-pocket costs associated with emergency air medical transport. These memberships are typically available to individuals or entire jurisdictions and provide coverage for medically necessary flights within the provider’s service area.
Major provider networks include:
- https://www.lifeflight.org/ – Serving multiple states in the western United States.
- https://www.airmedcarenetwork.com/ – The largest air ambulance membership program, covering extensive regions across the continental U.S., Hawaii and Alaska.
- https://www.phiairmedical.com/ – Operating a broad network of bases nationwide.
Membership plans generally offer low-cost annual fees and may cover transport charges either fully or on a percentage basis, depending on the provider’s terms.
Why are air ambulances needed in United States?
In many cases, patients with minor illnesses can board commercial flights without any issue or without aggravating their health. However, several medical conditions prevent travelers from boarding a plane, because of the risk to other to other passengers and airline staff and because the patient's medical condition can considerable deteriorate while on the plane. In fact, it is not recommended for some patients to board a plane when they are ill [2] .
Several medical conditions [3] prevent patients from boarding a flight because of the complications that may arise. In these cases, patients need constant medical supervision and care. Some examples are:
- Respiratory conditions like pneumonia
- Recent stroke
- Some heart conditions like angina or heart failure
- A recent surgery
In these cases, patients need an air ambulance to travel whether across the United States or to cross international borders. These are equipped as an ICU and have a medical team on board to ensure patient safety. [4]
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