By Mike Armstrong
Writer, Carbon County Comet
Classic Air Medical (CAM) has good news for Carbon County residents. When a resident is life-flighted out by CAM, the cost charged by CAM will be $250.
There was a time when CAM had a subscription service available which was very reasonable for residents. That was changed a couple of years ago.
The No Surprise Act which went into law by the state of Wyoming on January 1, 2022, indicated CAM could not have a membership for Carbon County residents to pay for life flights. CAM was not an insurance company, the law said, so the company was prohibited from offering this membership which had kept these life-saving flights affordable to residents of Carbon County.
The No Surprise Act authors knew it was not perfect, especially for air ambulances.
According to the Wyoming Law Review Volume 21, Number 1, Article 3, “The No Surprises Act is a compromise solution, however, that leaves significant underlying structural problems in the air ambulance market. The Act does not address the cost, cost-shifting, and supply challenges plaguing air ambulances. Section VI of Rural Health Inequity discusses why laws that prohibit balance billing, require disclosures, and establish a procedural mechanism for independent dispute resolution fail to remedy these issues. This coda does not repeat those arguments but instead provides three reasons the No Surprises Act specifically does not address several pressing air ambulance problems.”
Flash forward to the summer of 2023.
CAM is back offering a reasonable price for a flight, which was probably unaffordable to most Carbon County residents prior. Tales of the flight costing upwards of six figures, made many residents not even consider using an air ambulance in recent times.
“We never considered being an insurance company, because it is way expensive and difficult to do,” Becky Heltand, who has been working for CAM for a couple of years in Rawlins as a flight nurse. She has been in the medical profession for over 30 years and is happy to see the new offering, “CAM will only charge a resident $250 and take what money is given by the insurance company. People will still have to pay their deductible, but that is not through us.”
Hetland said residents might get a statement after a life flight, about all the costs, but she makes clear this is not a bill.
“Residents are only responsible to CAM for $250, but we can’t say what an insurance company will try to do,” Hetland said. “We do have a patient advocate program, so if you do receive a bill and are struggling to pay it, they will do their best to help you.”
CAM was founded initially in Page, Arizona in 1988. Hetland said the owners were family oriented and had always wanted to help rural communities.
Hetland gave information that CAM said, “At Classic Air Medical, we work with insurance companies to get your costs covered. Whether we are in-network with your insurance or have to make an agreement, we know how to work so that you owe nearly nothing out of pocket. Classic is a family-focused, community-centered not-for-profit organization whose mission is to help people live their healthiest lives possible.”
The company continued, “At Classic Air Medical, we have chosen to focus on high-quality critical care transport at a low cost to patients. Because we consider our patients and communities to be a family, we have always worked to protect them from open-ended balance billing.”
CAM pointed out, “We have fine-tuned our billing practices to maximize the insurance companies’ payment for a medical flight. This has allowed us to minimize the amount that patients have to pay out of pocket.”
In Carbon County, this out-of-pocket will be no more than $250.
Although the No Surprise Act caused the membership model to be canceled, in the long run, CAM is not unhappy the act was passed.
“Classic Air Medical fully supports the federal government implementing the Consolidated Appropriation Act of 2021. This act contains many provisions including the No Surprises Act under title 1,” CAM said. “With the No Surprise Act, consumers have new billing protections when getting emergency care and non-emergency care from out-of-network or in-network facilities and air ambulance services from out-of-network providers.”
The air ambulance company continued, “Through new rules aimed to protect consumers, out-of-pocket costs are restricted and emergency services must continue to be covered without any prior authorization regardless of whether or not a provider or facility is in in-network.”
CAM concluded, “Classic Air Medical is proud to say that we have a better plan. Our team will simply work with your insurance company to the cost of our medical transport services. We believe selling air medical memberships is an outdated and unnecessary practice, and we believe that all air medical companies should discontinue their use. Classic’s commitment to serving our communities, patients, and families will remain our top priority.”
In July of 2021 CAM was bought by, Inter-mountain Healthcare and CAM is now officially part of Intermountain.
Hetland said this merger makes the service stronger. She said there are CAM helicopters in Rawlins, Lander, and ambulance planes in Riverton and Jackson. There is a CAM helicopter in Steamboat, Colorado and a plane in Craig.
“We sort of have Carbon County surrounded,” Hetland said. “If we are gone in Rawlins there is still a strong chance Classic will still be able to help.”
If a resident uses another air ambulance service, CAM will not cover that flight.
Hetland is proud to work for CAM because often the organization will go beyond the call of duty.
“I remember a situation where there was a life flight by plane out of Riverton to Salt Lake City,” Hetland recounted. “While in Salt Lake there was a request by the Huntsman Cancer Center to take a patient who had little time left, back to Lander where she could end her days in her home. We not only flew her to Lander, but we had a crew who put her in her bed at her home. It was so moving Classic did this for her. For Classic to do that, free of charge, makes me proud to work for them. They understand helping people in small towns. That is the heart and soul of Classic.”
