Air Ambulance Used For Injured Workers Takes Insurer To Court Over Medical Bills

EagleMed, a privately owned and operated air medical transport service, was utilized by four separate employers to transport four separate injured workers.

EagleMed was used in all four instances to transport the workers from rural hospitals to larger ones that were better equipped to help them.

Workers’ compensation was administered to these employees through their work. Coincidentally, all four employers had workers’ comp insurance policies with Travelers Insurance. And, in all four instances of air ambulance transport, Travelers did not preapprove the flights.

EagleMed submitted invoices ranging from $21,000 to upwards of $33,000 for the services provided. Travelers said the invoices were unreasonable and offered reduced payments of $4,000 to $8,000 based on its interpretation of what would be paid under federal Medicare reimbursement rates.

EagleMed pursued legal action, filing a fee dispute with the Kansas Division of Workers’ Compensation, where the four individual claims were consolidated into one.