Wyoming has come up with a unique way to make air ambulances — a common source of huge surprise medical bills — more affordable, according to the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute's blog.
The big picture: The state is essentially proposing to turn air ambulances into a public utility after its health department has put together a Medicaid waiver that would make all residents, regardless of their income, eligible for Medicaid coverage of air ambulance services.
Providers would submit bids to serve as the only air ambulance operator within a particular geographic region.
The state would make flat payments to the operator that wins the bid, rather than paying them for each ambulance ride.
Patients' cost-sharing would vary based on their income, and insurers would pay into the program rather than covering air ambulances themselves.
What we're watching: To go into effect, the proposal first has to be approved by CMS. State lawmakers would then have to make the necessary policy changes.
Yes, but: The blog's author, Sabrina Corlette, correctly warns that "both federal officials and state lawmakers will likely be lobbied extensively by the air ambulance industry, which has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo."
