“The SOAR Campaign appreciates the Department of Health and Human Service’s (HHS) report supporting transparency to address balance billing, but cautions that any Congressional action must take patients out of the middle and protect access to emergency medical care. The emergent nature of air medical services makes it unique, and any effort to address balance billing must ensure that patient access to these life-saving services is preserved. Air ambulances, who have been on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic, respond to emergencies when called on by a medical professional, regardless of a patient’s ability to pay, and it is the responsibility of insurers to cover the cost of this emergency life-saving care. That is why the SOAR Campaign has called for cost reporting to increase transparency and match reimbursement rates with the actual cost of delivering care. We also continue to call on insurers, who continue to experience record profits amid the COVID-19 pandemic due to low utilization rates, to enter into in-network agreements with air medical providers and reimburse providers at fair rates.”