Language Included In HHS/Education Appropriations Bill Would Fund In-Depth Look At Costs And Payment Structures

The Senate Appropriations Committee has included language in the 2017 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill that would fund a GAO study of air ambulance services and payment structures.

The language was offered by Montana Senator Jon Tester (D) (pictured). He said his motivation for pushing the study was the lack of regulation on how air ambulances services charge patients and insurance companies for their services. He said that some Montana families have faced financial ruin after being transported by air to a medical facility, and then discovering that their insurance did not cover the cost of the transportation.

Tester told television stations KTMF / KWYB that there is not a lot of information about the issue, and the study will give Congress a basis to "talk to the air ambulance services and potentially develop some rules around these air ambulances. Imagine yourself, and some of us have been in this situation, where you have a life-threatening emergency. You might not even be the one ordering the ambulance. It might be the hospital. And then you start recovering, and somebody hands you a bill for $100,000 and there's no way you can get it paid for. And so, this is a real problem, especially in a rural state like Montana."

The bill now goes to the full Senate for a vote.

(Image from Senator Tester's website)

FMI: www.tester.senate.gov