Air ambulances charge higher rates relative to Medicare than most other services, and these rates have increased over time, according to another new study in Health Affairs.
Why it matters: Insurers often don't contract with air ambulances, meaning patients may be charged exorbitant sums for emergency transportation whether they're insured or not.
By the numbers: Air ambulances charged between 4.1 and 9.5 times more than Medicare paid for these services in 2016, depending on the type of ambulance and type of charge.
- The median charge per air ambulance trip increased from about $24,000 in 2012 to about $39,000 in 2016.
- The median ground ambulance charge was 2.8 times what Medicare paid.
What we're watching: Air ambulances are very unhappy with the provisions of a Senate health care bill that would force them to separate out transportation and medical charges, prohibit them from balance billing patients, and establish a payment benchmark for out-of-network care.
- But, as the authors of the study write, "without congressional or regulatory effort to address air ambulance billing practices, patients — who in emergencies have few options and little bargaining power — are at risk of exposure to excessive charges."
Go deeper: Air ambulances are expensive and most likely out of network
