In an instant, one’s whole life can change. An unforeseen emergency that requires emergency medical transport is extremely common; however, many people with health insurance do not realize that their plans do not or will not cover their needs in these moments of necessity. These expenses can cause bankruptcy and years of debt, which clearly impact one’s lifestyle, productivity, and membership status.
Emergencies are common and so is their lack of coverage
An article by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Peterson Center on Healthcare explains, using information from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, that around 29 million people visited the emergency room in the year 2018. Ten percent of these visits occurred via emergency medical transportation (healthsystemtracker.org). One can only imagine how this number has grown in recent medical events with the Covid-19 pandemic.
In situations that desperately need medical care, emergency medical air ambulances are of the utmost importance. According to NAIC, air medical transportation averages a cost between $12,000 to $25,000 dollars for a trip that is around 50 miles long. An article on the Airmed website explains, “Many insurers will only cover the medical transportation services to the nearest facility and do not provide air ambulance cost coverage outside of U.S” (airmed.com). Many different organizations and groups provide ambulances but, according to KFF and PCH, “About half of emergency ground ambulance rides among privately insured people pose a risk of a surprise bill” (healthsystemtracker.org).
Primary health insurance deems what is “medically necessary” or not in terms of a medical emergency. If one’s situation does not fall under their rules, the insurance plan will not cover the costs. Secondly, over 9,900 emergency medical transportation providers are considered “out-of-network,” which means insurance companies do not cover those particular companies’ services. Thus, the “out-of-network” emergency transportation service will require one to pay a large bill as well as underlying copays and deductibles. These fees are rising each day, so the possibility of paying a ginormous sum of money out-of-pocket becomes more and more likely (masamts.com).
How to solve the inevitable cost crisis
There is a clear need for ground and air medical transportation. But, there is also a huge disconnect between insurance provider, subscriber, and emergency medical transportation services. The best way to combat the possibilities of this happening, one needs to have proper coverage. ABC’s plan with MASA Medical Transport Solutions is the best possible option for full, 24/7 coverage with any medical transportation. ABC’s thriving benefits tech, powered by Benefits for Everyone MASA offers two, different memberships for purchase beginning at $20 per month. With the MASA Platinum plan, oneself, their spouse, and their children under 26, receive full cost coverage on any emergency medical transportation provider—despite their being in- or out-of-network in one’s health insurance plan. This plan also offers tons of other benefits such as organ retrieval/transportation, recuperation/repatriation, escort transportation, visitor transportation, minor children/grandchildren return, vehicle return, mortal remains transport, worldwide coverage, and pet return.
Life gets complicated. To prepare your employees and members for the moments they think will “never happen,” purchase a MASA Medical Transport Solutions membership through Associated Benefits Consulting. Call 877-799-2225 today or email us at THRIVING@abenefitsconsulting.com to explore your options and protect your most valuable team members.
