LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Air ambulance services could very well save your life in an emergency. Now there is an effort to make sure they don’t also kill your bank account.
A state lawmaker from Louisville plans to file a bill that would require insurance companies to pay for the use of air ambulances.
For those in need, the time saved by being rushed to a hospital by air could mean the difference between life and death.
Brad Salyer of Bowling Green faced that very crisis when his infant son, Lincoln, was critically ill from an infection. Salyer told members of the Interim Banking and Insurance Committee that doctors urged him to fly Lincoln 60 miles to the pediatric intensive care unit at Vanderbilt Hospital.
“The doctor also told us not to worry about the cost,” Salyer said. “Now is not the time to worry about that.”
Lincoln recovered and is now doing well, but the family’s problems got worse when a bill for $57,621.99 came in the mail. Salyer’s insurance company, Anthem, would pay only about $10,000 because the helicopter company was out of its network.
“Under the current law, everyone in here is one illness or one accident away from what could be financial ruin,” Salyer said.
Sen. Morgan McGarvey (D-Louisville) plans to file a bill he said will solve the problem by requiring insurance companies to pay the cost of air ambulance services.
“Very few people in Kentucky have $50,000 sitting in a bank account that they can pay after the fact to save their child,” McGarvey told fellow lawmakers.
But Anthem told committee members it is addressing the problem on its own. The company said it recently signed contracts to place more air ambulance services in its network. Anthem said the deals mean 90 percent of its private insurance customers would be covered.
“You have my word that we will continue to fight for our members,” said Lawrence Ford, senior director of government relations.
Following the hearing, McGarvey acknowledged Anthem’s work, but told WDRB News his legislation is still needed.
“If Anthem has a system in place that covers 90 percent of their patients, that means 10 percent are going to be hit with debt-crippling bills,” McGarvey said.
Salyer said he is still negotiating his bill but hopes his experience leads to change.
“Hopefully, what we’re doing today is the beginning of a new day, where consumers will stop getting these kinds of bills,” he said.
McGarvey said he will wait until the session begins in January to actually file his bill. In the meantime, he said he will work to craft something that can gain bi-partisan support.
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