“The SOAR Campaign applauds Congressional action to address balance billing in a way that takes patients out of the middle and protects access to air medical services. Unfortunately, legislation under consideration in the House Education, Labor & Workforce Committee would do the opposite. The proposed language in the committee’s draft would allow insurers to continue maintaining narrow networks and denying patients coverage after emergency transports, and empower insurance companies to set one reimbursement rate for all air medical providers by negotiating with only a single provider.
Good work is being done in the House to address balance billing, however. Congress should follow the leads of the Ways & Means and Energy & Commerce Committees, both of which are advancing legislation that requires the collection of data from air medical providers and insurers so that reimbursement rates can be based on actual cost and claims. This approach is in line with the work of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Air Ambulance and Patient Billing Advisory Committee, which is working diligently to meet Congress’s mandate to examine the underlying cause of balance bills and determine what data is needed to resolve this issue in a way that takes patients out of the middle and preserves emergency air medical service for all communities, especially in rural areas.”