The air ambulance industry has now been dragged into the limelight again for wrong reasons. This time around, it is the matter of workers’ compensation payouts. The insurance industry has revealed that it has revised the payouts back in the year 2013. They also add that the current rates amount to half of the ambulance payouts.
When you think of it, the development does not seem surprising at all. The reason is simple: one cannot compare ground ambulances and air ambulances. This is precisely the point the air ambulance industry is trying to make. However, it seems not many are willing to give the industry a listening ear.
Argument Against the Air Ambulance Industry
The argument put forth by the insurance industry directly attacks the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. What the representatives of the insurance sector say is that the Act aims at bringing competitiveness to the airlines and the airline industry must be excluded from it since it faces no competition. They highlight that the question of competition or choosing between service providers simply does not arise when a person is injured. The patient would obviously opt for the one that is available at the earliest because saving lives is of utmost importance.
Insurance Industry is Known to Flip Arguments to its Advantage
While on the one hand, the insurance sector says the air ambulance industry and competition do not go hand in hand, they make a counter to their own argument when it comes to in-network service providers. When a patient chooses an out-of-network air ambulance service during an emergency, the insurance industry is sure to reject the claim stating that the service provider is out of their network. For the patients, it is always a Catch-22 situation. Adding to the woes of the air ambulance industry is the fact that the reimbursement rates have remained unchanged for quite a few years now.
