Original Message

This is from "SOAR":

As a rural health advocate, I support the No Surprises Act (NSA) and its goal of removing patients from the middle of billing disputes between providers and insurers. Unfortunately, the law is not working as intended, and as a result, access to emergency care in rural America is threatened.

Since the NSA went into effect in January, we are hearing reports of insurance companies withholding and significantly delaying claims; not providing qualified payment amount (QPA) information; significantly underpaying for service or simply not paying; and sometimes refusing to respond to providers at all. If providers are not reimbursed timely or properly, millions of Americans will lose access to this lifesaving service. In Q1 of 2022, insurance companies saw record profits. Meanwhile, air medical providers are being forced to take out loans to pay their medics and pilots.

Please urge CMS to amend the regulatory guidance and require arbiters to treat air ambulance providers like all other providers and by weighting the QPA equally. Additionally, lean on CMS to hold health plans accountable by establishing reasonable timelines for responding to a claim and requiring transparency in how a QPA is calculated. These crucial steps will allow air medical providers to continue to serve rural America.