You’ve probably not heard of Butte, a small mining town tucked in rural southeast Montana. While life in Butte is serene with ample space, valleys and camping grounds, the region faces a dire issue which most rural towns in United States do – lack of adequate healthcare facilities. This is the time when the citizens of Butte hugely rely on medical flight services. In 2014 alone, there were over 3000 medical flight services that were undertaken in Montana, which is almost like a norm. The people of rural Montana are well aware of the need to cover emergency medical transport. Yet, sometimes they fall through the cracks of insurance cover as was the case with Amy Thomson.
Amy’s Day with the Medical Flight
Amy’s daughter, Isla’s heart was failing and when the medical flight arrived to carry her and the child 600 miles away to Seattle Children’s Hospital, she felt everything would be eventually okay. As she found out, everything did work out and the baby was treated successfully. All the medical bills were covered by their insurance and they did not really have to worry about anything, until they received the medical flight bill. The bill was a whopping $56,000. Amy’s first reaction was that there was some sort of a mistake on the part of the insurance company. They were already covered for emergency transportation but what she did not know was the fact that the medical flight that saved Isla’s life was out of their insurance network.
The Family is Now Dealing with the Medical Flight Bill
Amy revealed that the bill would have surely ruined them financially or at least killed their dreams of having a secure future. She could not blame anybody for calling in a medical flight that was out of their insurance network because time was of essence when Isla was ill.
Amy did not give up. After repeated appeals to her insurance provider, the company agreed to pay an additional $30,000 and $13,000 out-of-network fee. The medical flight company waived off the rest of the amount. In the end, it was a happy ending for Amy’s family with Isla now being 2 years old and healthy.
