The high air ambulance bills have been a matter of concern for quite some time now and the state governments have been relentless in trying to regulate it. The point however that most lawmakers are missing is that they are not allowed to do so. Any waiver or restriction on billing goes against a federal law that prevents the state governments from doing so. The state of Wyoming has been spearheading this move. It is attempting to declare air ambulance services as a public utility. The move, if successful, will get medical services under the ambit of Medicaid. The air ambulance industry is not happy about it.
The Reason for Air Ambulance Industry’s Discomfort
As mentioned earlier, a federal law prevents the states from placing any restrictions on air ambulance industry when it comes to operations or pricing. At present, the citizens of Wyoming are free to choose the medical flight provider of their choice. However, the new law seeks to change this. Under the law, bids would be called for exclusive services to the state and would be governed by Medicaid. Further, the state would set up certain strategic bases through which the medical flight service would operate. This severely limits the market possibilities of most air medical flight services.
The Bill May Not Go Through Opine Experts
Since part of Medicaid is run by the Federal government, the decision cannot be taken by the states unilaterally reveal experts. This hurdle is an addition to the federal law that prevents them from intervening in the affairs of air ambulance services. However, medical flight industry seems to be unhappy with the constant efforts to regulate them. In fact, one of the large groups has criticized the move rather openly. The issue remains to be a point of contention at the present time. Only time will tell how things will turn out.
