NCOIL Creates Air Ambulance Task Force

Several years ago, the air ambulance industry began claiming that its bills were not bound by or subject to state workers’ compensation fee guidelines on the basis the federal Airline Deregulation Act preempted state law. This issue has been making its way through courts across the country with various presentations and outcomes. In December 2016 we published an FOL Advisory discussing the current state of the litigation, which has been denominated as Texas Mutual Ins. Co. v. PHI Air Medical, LLC, Cause No. D-1-GN-15-004940. In that case, a Texas state district judge, has agreed with carriers that air ambulance bills are subject to state regulation by the Texas Department of Insurance and the Division of Workers’ Compensation.

Business Insurance, an industry journal, recently reported that the National Conference of Insurance Legislators has established an air ambulance task force to examine how to protect consumers from excessive and often out-of-network billing. The BI article includes an overview of the Texas litigation, but also addresses the national implications of the air ambulance companies’ billing practices.

In the general health care market, air ambulance companies often balance-bill patients the difference between their billed charges and the amount insurance will pay for their services. The outcry generated by patients suddenly saddled with huge medical bills has caught the attention of regulators on the state and federal levels.

On the workers comp side, patients can’t be balance-billed, so disputes over charges between air ambulance companies and comp insurers often end up in court.

The Texas litigation remains pending.