As rural hospitals are closing down at an alarming rate, it is being accused that some bad players in the medical flight industry are looking at the situation as an opportunity to up their marketing effectors. While there is nothing wrong with marketing one’s business, misrepresentation can be a cause of worry. Take for instance a situation where as soon as a medical center is closed, the marketers of the medical flight company swoop in. They address the local community and promise that they will always come to their rescue and that they would not have to pay a cent from their pocket. The condition – avail membership with the air ambulance company. The reality can be different, though.
What’s so Bad About a Medical Flight Membership?
Medical flight memberships are actually wonderful and insulate the members from balance billing. However, coverage is a concern. If each air ambulance company comes up with its own membership plan, the local community would have to subscribe to several of them to cover all the service providers in the area. Why? Obviously, you cannot afford to choose a particular provider when emergency strikes. Moreover, it is a call that the treating physicians take; not the patients or victims.
What is the Necessity Today?
The necessity today is for all the medical flight companies to come together and offer a common membership plan. At least those operators that cover a particular region must come together to form one umbrella membership. This way it becomes a win-win situation for all the parties involved.
The hurdle, however, comes in the form of lack of agreement and coordination between medical flight service providers. There seems to be an absence of consensus in the matters of common membership programs. Even as the insurance industry and legislators are up in arms against the air ambulance industry, this highly obvious and sensible option seems to have been completely ignored.
