Save Our Air Medical Resources (SOAR), a national campaign dedicated to preserving access to emergency air medical services for Americans across the country, is responding to recent research on the air ambulance industry from FAIR Health.
“This report confirms that air medical services are vital to rural communities, have played a critical role in responding to COVID-19, and are increasingly utilized by Medicare patients,” said Christina Kanmaz, SOAR spokesperson. “Unfortunately, there are policies in place that threaten the ability for emergency air medical bases to stay open. It’s past time for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to update the outdated Medicare reimbursements rates and for private insurers to cover this critical service.”
The report shows that individuals 65 years and older make up the majority of air ambulance claims. Patients in that age group accounted for 55.4 percent of fixed-wing transports and 63.6 percent of rotary-wing transports.
As Medicare patients continue to account for an increasing number of transports, decades-old reimbursement rates must be updated with relevant data to ensure this critical service is sustained. Private insurers must also do their part. Their initial denial of most air ambulance claims, narrow networks, and refusal to negotiate fair rates with providers, threatens the viability of this important emergency service.
The data also highlights the important role air ambulances have played during the pandemic, as the most common diagnoses associated with transports shifted to chronic respiratory disease and COVID-19 in 2020.