Officials with Air Evac Lifeteam and Med-Trans Corp., part of the Global Medical Response (GMR) family of companies, announced they have signed an agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield in Mississippi and Advanced Health Systems, Inc. (Mississippi State and School Employees Life and Health Insurance Plans), effective as of May 1, 2020. Because Blue Cross & Blue Shield is Mississippi’s largest commercial health insurer, the agreement will cover hundreds of thousands of Mississippians. GMR is the largest provider of emergent air medical services in Mississippi covering all 82 counties. Air Evac Lifeteam has four air medical locations in Mississippi – Batesville, Corinth, Greenville and Natchez. Med-Trans operates UMMC AirCare for the University of Mississippi Medical Center, along with Mississippi AirRescue.

“This is great news for Mississippi residents,” said Erik Rohde, President of Global Medical Response’s Southeast Region. This further reinforces GMR’s commitment to patients in rural areas of Mississippi,” he said. “Our patients have enough to worry about without receiving a balance bill. It is satisfying to know that Blue Cross Blue Shield continues to work with us and cover this life-saving service for its customers.”

Nearly 1.6 million (53 percent of population) Mississippi residents live in a rural area where access to a Level 1 or 2 trauma center can be more than an hour away, and emergency air medical transports serve as a safety network where access to care is limited due to the closure of the state’s rural hospitals. Global Medical Response companies provide tens of thousands of ground and air transports in Mississippi, all in support of its mission to provide care to the world at a moment’s notice.