Aircraft
Report: Air Ambulance Ops Face Medicaid Shortfall
Medicare reimbursement of air ambulance services has clearly lagged costs, according to the report.

Medicare is short-changing the nation's air ambulance industry by $400 million a year, and some of the costs are shifting to private insurers and self-paying patients. But in many cases it's still not enough to make air ambulance operations profitable. Those are the findings of a new study prepared for the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) by the consulting firm Xcenda. The study examined 51 percent of all air medical bases nationwide and captured 46 percent of air medical services billed to Medicare.