New tax to fund EMS?

[thrilsekr]

http://www.kcoy.com/global/story.asp?s=12538679

 

I guess I did not realize how much gov't money went to these operations. And that "most" air ambulance companies are nonprofit.

 

Any truth to these statements?

[Wally]

http://www.kcoy.com/global/story.asp?s=12538679

 

I guess I did not realize how much gov't money went to these operations. And that "most" air ambulance companies are nonprofit.

 

Any truth to these statements?

 

There's some truth in there somewhere...

 

There are public and/or non-profit HEMS services. Most helo operators intend to make a profit, even if they're contracted to a non-profit. It get's kinda technical after that, like any tax law.

 

We, at Air Methods, never know what a patient's financial situation is when we pick them up at a scene. I think that's typical. It's not freakish to not know a patient's name.

Something on the order of a third of our transports (give or take) are not compensated.

Something on the order of a quarter of our transports (give or take) have insurance coverage.

Medicare, etc., pay something on the rest of our transports, but that's usually only a fraction of what's charged.

Hospital to hospital is a little different, pays better. Still lots of partial pays, though.

Almost all US healthcare runs on a model like the above. That's why insurance companies and government agencies are always railing about 'cost containment'- if you're paying your bill, you're also paying somebody else's, or the provider wouldn't be in business. Yep, you're 'over-charged' but the alternative is doing without. That's pretty expensive, too.

 

If you read between the lines, you see why the US healthcare system is so screwed up.

Edited May 25, 2010 by Wally

[delorean]

Like Wally said, there's a lot of tax games when it comes to non-profit companies.

 

Yeah, some air ambulance ops are indeed non-profit, but their parent company also owns the for-profit leasing company that provides the helicopters and crews. The non-profit has to pay for the helicopter, maintenance, etc.

 

It's just a big shell game.

[Gomer Pylot]

There are a number of government-run HEMS operations across the country. I wouldn't say most HEMS operations are non-profit by design, although some of them are unintentionally non-profit. The story covers one program in California, so any relevance to any other program is purely coincidental. The entire state budget in California is in a 9-line bind, and they have to come up with creative ways to fund everything, since the taxes are unrealistically low due to constitutional initiatives.