Let’s understand the scenario with a hypothetical situation – a patient has suffered a serious injury and is in Carthage, Missouri. It is felt that the most appropriate facility to treat the patient is in Joplin, which is just about 12 miles from where he is. A medical flight is summoned, in spite of the ground ambulance being ready to take the patient. The medical flight takes about an hour to reach the patient and another 15 minutes to reach the treating facility. A week elapses, just when the patient is thanking his stars that he was lucky to receive the treatment on time, he is slapped with a balance bill of $25,000. The insurance company has covered $20,000 of the total $45,000 bill. The once happy patient is now contemplating mortgaging his house to pay off the balance bill.
The Argument Against Medical Flight Company
The insurance company argues that the ground ambulance was readily available and the destination was just 12 miles away, which would have taken the ground ambulance about half an hour to reach. Yet, a medical flight was called in, even though it took an hour for it to simply reach the patient. The insurance company feels there was no need for the medical flight service in the first place and refuses to cover the bill in full. In the outset, the argument seems right but only until what the medical flight company has to say.
Looking at the Situation from the Medical Flight Company’s Angle
Medical flight companies do not and cannot choose to take a call whether they want to fly a patient. They are summoned by the hospital and the medical necessity is decided by the treating physician. Come to think of it, the treating physicians usually have a sound logic behind suggesting an air ambulance service. The ground ambulance might not be best suited, owing to the patient’s condition.
What needs to be done in contradictions like these is following a middle ground and for this, there needs to be a mechanism in place where things are sorted out between medical flight and air ambulance companies. Until that happens, the patient will continue to suffer.
