The U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee has invited AAMS to testify tomorrow, June 12^th, 2019 on the issue of surprise billing. While we continue to support and advocate for taking patients out of the middle of negotiations with insurers, AAMS is very concerned that some proposals from insurer groups- such as capping all charges at 125% of Medicare- would have a devastating impact on our members ability to continue providing emergency air medical services. AAMS believes any additional federal action should protect patients while supporting those services’ ability to continue providing care.

Throughout this process and the possibility of others, AAMS will continue to work on federal solutions that will ensure patients are protected from unfair pricing. AAMS is working with the Department of Transportation’s Consumer Protection Division (DOT CPD) to support patients who feel they’ve been billed unfairly, as well as urging the DOT and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to accelerate their timeline in the formation of the Air Ambulance Patient Billing Advisory Committee (AAPBAC).

Our vision is to assure that every person has access to quality air medical and critical care transport in a time of need. AAMS members are actively working to address surprise billing issues related to their services through voluntary patient advocacy programs and dramatic increases in their in-network agreements to take patients out of the middle and hold them harmless.

We appreciate your support and will continue to advocate for providing emergency healthcare services when and where patients need it most.

Best,

Richard Sherlock
President and CEO
Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS)