Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Air Ambulance Rates Are Soaring But State Regulators Are Handcuffed By A Decades-Old Rule
The Washington Post: Health Care Costs: Air Ambulance Rates In The United States Are Soaring
Air ambulance rates in the United States are soaring. The cost of a medical ride in a helicopter or airplane climbed about 60 percent from 2012 to 2016, to a median of $39,000, according to a study of federal data released Monday. The list charges rose to as much as 10 times what Medicare pays for the service, despite a surge of air ambulance carriers entering the market, the study said. (Rowland, 7/1)
Modern Healthcare: Jumps In Air Ambulance Charges May Help Senate's Balance Billing Ban
Many air ambulance providers are not in insurance networks, leading to patients getting stuck with surprise out-of-pocket bills for thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. That has triggered public anger, prompting state and federal lawmakers to propose limits on balance billing by air ambulance companies. Last month, the Senate health committee shocked the air ambulance industry, which is made up heavily of private equity-owned companies, by including a balance-billing ban for air ambulance services in its broader legislation to regulate surprise out-of-network billing. Experts say only the federal government has the authority to address the problem of out-of-network bills from air ambulance companies. Courts have blocked states from regulating these companies due to a federal law governing air carriers, the Air Deregulation Act of 1978. (Meyer, 7/1)
In other health care cost news —
The Associated Press: Why Wealth Gap Has Grown Despite Record-Long Economic Growth
As it enters its 11th year, America's economic expansion is now the longest on record — a streak that has shrunk unemployment, swelled household wealth, revived the housing market and helped fuel an explosive rise in the stock market. Yet even after a full decade of uninterrupted economic growth, the richest Americans now hold a greater share of the nation's wealth than they did before the Great Recession began in 2007. And income growth has been sluggish by historical standards, leaving many Americans feeling stuck in place. (Rugaber, 7/1)
Houston Chronicle: Buyer Beware: When Religion, Politics, Health Care, And Money Collide
What Aliera Healthcare was peddling was not insurance, but rather connection to a Christian health-sharing ministry, an obscure but growing type of coverage based on the biblical principle that the like-minded should help each other in times of need. Members paid monthly into an Aliera-administered fund to help pay their future medical bills. ...As similar cases have surfaced across the country, regulators in several states, including Texas, are taking action against Aliera, accusing the four-year-old company of fraudulently selling insurance without a license — a charge Aliera denies. But the story runs deeper, emerging as a tangled tale of broken deals, politics, religion, prison, and, of course, money - hundreds of millions of dollars. And it is unfolding at a time when the nation’s health insurance regulations are steadily unspooling. (Deam, 7/2)
