“The SOAR Campaign applauds the House Ways & Means Committee for including the collection of operational cost and insurance claims data from air medical providers in its proposed legislation on surprise medical bills. We’ve said all along that policymakers must evaluate real data if they want to address the underlying cause of surprise bills - denials by private insurers and the chronic under-reimbursement by government payers,” said SOAR spokeswoman Carter Johnson.
“When claims data is collected, they reveal insurer practices of denying claims, after the fact, for ‘medical necessity’ and network status. The collection of provider cost data sheds a light on the vast under-reimbursement by government programs, like Medicare, which has led to base closures across the country. This legislation, in conjunction with the work being done by the Department of Transportation’s Air Ambulance and Patient Billing Advisory Committee, are important steps toward taking patients out of the middle while preserving access to these life-saving services, especially for Americans living in rural areas.”