Story ID: 326HAI18
HEMS Continues Medicare Struggles
By: Mark Huber
Caption: Average cost per transport was $10,199 but Medicare reimburses at an average rate of 59 percent, for an aggregate of more than $1 billion below costs.
Word Count: 241
A new study commissioned by the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) has documented the continuing gap between aeromedical transport costs and third-party payer reimbursements. It found that the average cost per transport was $10,199 but that Medicare reimbursed at an average rate of 59 percent, for an aggregate of more than $1 billion below costs. The study warned this would continue to have a significant effect on private payers.

“Inadequate payment from public payers and the uncompensated care costs providers incur while treating uninsured patients have a trickle-down economic effect and play an important role in rates for air medical services for private payers and patients,” AAMS said.

More than one-third of the aeromedical operators surveyed reported negative margins for their programs. The study also found that more Americans have access to aeromedical transport; the percentage of the population within a 15 to 20 minute air medical response increased from 71.2 percent in 2003 to 86.4 percent in 2016, and aeromedical services provides 87 million Americans timely access to a Level One trauma center who would not otherwise have it. Seventy-five percent of all air medical transports are conducted in rural areas.

The study also found that the provider's median cost and volume of transports per base did not vary significant, regardless of business model—independent, for-profit or nonprofit. According to the study, annual cost per base ranged from $2.951 million to $2.986 million, and median transports per base ranged from 295 to 328 per year.