Rotorcraft
More Medicare May Not Solve Air Ambulance Woes
Increasing rates could reduce the number of transports per helicopter, having the unintended consequence of further increasing prices.

A group of industry stakeholders interviewed for a new study released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) cast doubt on the ability of increased Medicare reimbursements to solve the ills of the U.S. air ambulance industry. The industry has long called for higher Medicare reimbursements to mitigate “balanced billing” and other practices seen driving the high costs of air medical transports, whose average median costs climbed to $30,000 from $15,000 between 2010 and 2014, according to the GAO.


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