Air ambulance companies are no longer allowed to mail bills to customers. The No Surprises Bill that came into effect on January 1, 2022, has mandated this approach. Any outstanding bill must be a matter that must be settled between the insurance providers and air ambulance companies. However, there are several court cases that are still ongoing and there is a bit of confusion still. The consumers, on their part, must understand that such confusion and court cases do not involve them. It is between the insurance and air ambulance industries. That said, if you have still received an air ambulance bill recently, here are some things that you must know.
Did You Give Up Your Right Not to be Billed for Air Ambulance Services?
Even if the air ambulance service that you availed is out of network, you must still not receive the balance bill. However, there is one exception. If you have waived your right not to receive a potential balance bill, you can get it.
Even here, there are certain procedures. A service provider cannot ask you to waive off your right verbally and take verbal consent for doing so. The air ambulance service provider must inform you of all the financial risks involved in writing and take written consent from you. Also, the air ambulance service provider must give you a written estimate and this estimate cannot exceed the overall amount by more than $400.
Know Your Rights
The United States medical system has ceased to be the Wild West dotted with lawlessness, thanks to the No Surprises Act. You should ideally not receive any balance billing requests in the future. If you do receive one, in spite of not consenting to it as explained earlier, you can report such communication to the government. You can do so by registering a complaint through the No Surprises Hotline at 1-800-985-3059.
