“The surprise billing legislation agreed to by the Senate HELP Committee and the House Energy & Commerce Committee puts in peril patient access to life-saving emergency air medical care. We have long been advocating for a fair and sustainable solution to surprise billing – based on data and cost of service – that would ensure patients are taken out of the middle and health care access is preserved. Unfortunately, lawmakers in both committees have decided to forgo any type of data collection and have instead agreed to support an arbitrary threshold of $25,000 as a requirement to enter into any type of arbitration.
This threshold compromises the ability of air medical services to continue operations by eliminating any incentive for insurers to reach in-network agreements with air medical providers or pay the true cost of air medical care. In addition, this federal government set rate only puts more pressure on air medical providers as Medicare and Medicaid already pay less than 40% of air medical costs. In 2019 alone, more than 57 air medical bases have closed, many of which served rural communities with already limited access to care. This agreement could lead to the closure of countless other bases throughout the country and put patient access to air medical services further at risk.
With this agreement, committee members have prioritized insurance industry profits over the health care needs of their constituents.”