–by Cathy Ellis —
Our San Juan Islands community needs clarification about the different types of air ambulance flight insurance that are available.
I found out the expensive way that there are two (non overlapping) types of Medical Flight Evacuation Services/Insurance for the S.J. Islands.
Please be aware….. there indeed are two companies that offer air ambulance services, BUT they each offer different choices, they do not duplicate services.
A resident of the islands might want to purchase a membership in BOTH, they are very very inexpensive.
More important, BOTH are needed because each of these companies offer one important item that the other doesn’t. And you never know ahead of time which type of air ambulance service you might need.
Please educate yourselves before you find yourself in the position I was in recently.
I had a membership in Airlift NorthWest. I thought it covered both helicopter and fixed wing transport. But I was wrong.
Now I owe $900 for an air ambulance bill BECAUSE I was sent to Bellingham ER on a fixed wing air transport, which was not covered by my air ambulance policy…..I found out after the fact that my policy was helicopter only.
I unknowingly had membership in the service that offers ONLY helicopter. I thought I had both types of air transport covered under my one type of insurance policy.
My August air ambulance bill was initially $15,000. After Medicare paid their portion, I owed $900.
My medicare supplemental did not pay anything because I had not yet meet my yearly deductible. So, even though I did have flight evac insurance…..I now owe $900!
If I had known before this that each company only covered one type of air ambulance, I would have happily bought both.
I now have coverage for both. But I still owe that $900 for my August air ambulance ride!
There are many factors that our island medics have to take into consideration before they call for air ambulance transport to transfer to the mainland……weather, patient condition, availability of flight crew, etc. In my case, the weather was quiet and stable, I was stable, the situation was not urgent or emergent.
On a Friday night in August, when the medics asked me if I was ok with their suggestion of air ambulance transport to the mainland, I said, “Sure I have flight insurance”. At no point did they ask me which type I had, or if I had both types of insurance. This was a big omission on their part, and now I owe $900!
I received professional, compassionate and timely care from our great medics. My only complaint is this……if time and conditions are stable, please clarify with us, remind us, your patient, that there are two separate distinct choices of flight evacuation, fixed wing and helicopter. Remind us that these insurance services do not overlap. If time and conditions permit, please, dear medics, do include these important facts in your conversation with us, your patient.
ISLAND AIR is ONLY fixed-wing air ambulance transport.
Usual advertised cost for membership is $39/year/person.
AIRLIFT NW is ONLY helicopter air ambulance transport.
Usual advertised membership is $79/household/year.
It would be even better if these two companies included this valuable info on their web sites and inside their brochures. They currently don’t. Their brochures say “air ambulance”. I have pointed this omission out to each of them, probably nothing will change.
I recommend having both types of medical evac insurance, it is worth the small yearly fees, and can save you thousands of dollars!
I know there have been several community discussions in the past about both these companies, but I never read the details, since I knew I HAD already bought my flight insurance. Obviously it was a wrong assumption. I should have had both types, now I do.
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Cathy-
Great advice. Wouldn’t it be great if these non-competing companies co-posted their subscription services on each other’s websites. This would eliminate the omission that so many of us have made.
As a side note, we now send links to each companies services to all of our friends and family that come to the island to visit. A small price to pay for some peace of mind on Vacation-land USA.
I don’t think it is the medic’s job to remind a patient of the various types of evacuation or that the policies do not overlap.
Another consideration to face —in the case of helicopter as well as fixed-wing airplane— is the “ground ambulance” that takes the patient the short distance from the “air ambulance” into the hospital building. That little jaunt is NOT included in the Island Air, nor in the Airlift NW coverage. It is billed separately, and costs about $1000. However, that part is covered by Medicare, if a patient has it, and may be covered by a patient’s separate insurance.
Thanks Cathy, I had no idea so thank you for the info. I’m glad you’ve recovered and are back home, but I’m so sorry for your costly situation. Perhaps the ambulance service company can help you in some way. Sending prayers.
A very good reminder. I had gotten Airlift NW months ago and somehow forgot to sign up for Island Air as well. Thanks to these comments I signed up online for Island Air as well. My youngest daughter was flown off a few weeks ago, didn’t have either, and received a $25,000 bill! She and her husband now have air coverage, and have to work on paying down the air bill.She was having a seizure and because she was they wouldn’t take her word that she did not want to be flown off. Her husband couldn’t be reached at that time, and they would not take my word nor her brother-in-law’s.Hopefully after reading your post more people will get both coverages. Even when Med Flight sent my refund check they sent a printed form that people needed to have both. At least it’s inexpensive enough that everyone should be able to afford it and it does cover your entire household.
I have heard of the ground transportation charge mentioned by Jean and I am wondering, just how does a person insure/pay for the “ground transportation”??? Not everyone is on medicare or has separate insurance. This could be very difficult for many people.
It’s important to know that you are required to have medical insurance that covers emergency air transportation in order to buy a membership in either plan. Your “membership” only covers the deductible (which can vary greatly depending on your insurance). I was flown off Orcas by Airlift NW, total bill $19,000, my deductible was $180 so that is what the membership covered. This may have changed since 2015 but that was how it worked then. And about that 2 minute ambulance ride at the hospital, yep, $900, but it was covered by my insurance. Like all things medical these days it’s ridiculously complicated and unreasonably expensive.
When you check out Island Air, make sure you go to the correct web site…”Island Air” has gone out of business (another company altogether) BUT Island Air Ambulance is alive and well: https://www.islandairambulance.com
What great holiday presents — a year of Airlift NW and Island Air insurance!!!
Just a point of clarification … Airlift NW through UW does also have 2 fixed wing aircraft in Washington. I learned this from a conversation with one of the paramedics, but you can verify it yourself by going to their website. But the bottom line is – the decision is made by the paramedics about what method will best serve a patient based upon a variety of factors including triage of the condition, weather, and aircraft availability. In some cases, the service might own an appropriate aircraft but it’s in use elsewhere at that moment. And the paramedics are required to use their best medical judgment in consultation with physicians about how/when to transport. I would seriously doubt that a patient’s concern about which insurance s/he has would be able to trump their medical decision making responsibility. If you can do it, it’s probably best to sign up for both.
Cathy, I’m confused. My understanding is that if you are on Medicare, you can’t purchase insurance from Airlift NW.
I believe Medicaid, not Medicare, will not pay for medical air transport services. My understanding is that Medicare insurees are covered for medically necessary transport.
I find the above letter to the editor somewhat misleading. The author is complaining about being held responsible for paying her insurance deductible, which every insured has to meet before insurance coverage kicks in. The air transport services are not insurance, they are secondary to other insurance, and only cover the deductible, not the entire cost of transport.
Some people find the $900 out of pocket cost for a fully equipped medical transport ride of a few minutes “unreasonably expensive”. They are ignoring the fixed costs of medical personnel equipment, and supplies necessary to insure quality critical care. This equipment can mean the difference between a speedy recovery or a life-disabling event. Many people expect state-of-the art medical procedures in the U.S. but then whinge about paying annual deductibles. Insurance is expensive in Europe, also, despite its universal coverage.
We could all go back to the 60’s, when emergency medical care consisted of your friend’s power boat ride to Bellingham, and it would not be either complicated or “unreasonably expensive”, but we might not favor the high mortality rates accompanying an aging population treated this way.