Is Air Ambulance Transport Covered By Insurance?

Air ambulance transportation for a patient in a medical emergency is not cheap, costing as much as $100,000 or more in some cases. Can your insurance help you pay this cost if you are critically ill or hurt?

If the air ambulance transport is considered medically necessary, an insurance company may likely cover at least some aspects of the bill you will incur. You should familiarize yourself with all the details of your coverage, and especially be sure you know how your insurance company defines "medically necessary."

Medical necessity is usually related to a doctor's professional assessment. When a doctor orders air transport to another health care facility because they place you are now simply cannot treat you adequately, an insurance company will typically accept the doctor's opinion that this is required and pay. However, their reaction may differ if the transport is a personal choice, say in the case where someone is on vacation and just prefers to fly home to receive their medical care. If your costs to be transported by air ambulance are just a preference and not a requirement, your insurance is less likely to cover it. When this happens, the patient will be left fully responsible for all associated costs.

To avoid this scenario, there is an easy solution. You can buy your own air ambulance coverage and get a policy that will cover you while you are traveling. Such insurance need not be prohibitively expensive if purchased with care. It comes in several different versions for individuals and families, and almost anyone can qualify for it, even those with pre-existing medical conditions.

Here is how the financial issues work: If you need air ambulance services, the company providing the transport will likely make sure they will be paid before accepting you. If you cannot prove that you already have insurance coverage that will foot the bill, you yourself must pay the charge up front by credit card or by some other verifiable payment. Many people, of course, simply cannot access this much money on short notice. The result can be disastrous.

So you should make sure you know what coverage you have for air ambulance transport services. If you discover through your research that your insurance company does not cover you in a way that meets your real needs, start looking at other options for air ambulance services coverage. The last thing you want is to take a large financial hit during a medical emergency, already a time of great stress.

Learn about air ambulance transport insurance options now, before you actually end up needing the services of an air ambulance. Your health, not to mention your wallet, may thank you one day.