Guest Column: Air Ambulance key resource for serving rural South Dakota

Pat Powers

Guest Column:  Air Ambulance key resource for serving rural South Dakota

In all of my years serving the public, I have seen a lot of advances. I’ve been in law enforcement since 1985. I have served as a patrolman, sheriff and the President of the South Dakota Sheriffs Association. One of the most life changing advances I’ve witnessed, has been the use of air ambulances. I have seen the difference these helicopters can make, and I have seen them save lives. Here in Union County especially, air ambulances are crucial. We have over 135 miles of county roads and most of the county is more than a 45-minute drive to a hospital. In an emergency, every second counts and air medical transport is sometimes the difference between life and death. More than half of all South

By Dan Limoges – Union County Sheriff

Dakotans are in similar situations. In fact, rural communities all across the country are severely underserved when it comes to access to quality health care. Regrettably,114 rural hospitals have closed since 2010 with twenty-one percent of rural hospitals currently at high risk of closure, making air ambulance services in rural areas more important than ever.

There is currently a bill being considered in congress that I feel I need to speak out against. While it may be well-intentioned, the Lower Health Care Costs Act is going to have a negative effect on the very people this bill aims to help, especially those in rural communities. Eighty-five million Americans in rural communities rely on air ambulance services to access a Level I or Level II trauma center within 60 minutes, also known as the golden hour. The golden hour is the first 60 minutes after a heart attack, stroke or trauma that is critical to ensure effective emergency intervention. The golden hour is often the difference between just surviving and being able to recover from these events; it can be the difference between keeping and losing a limb. While air ambulances service the nation, rural areas without a doubt, rely on them the most. Nearly 90% of patients transported by air medical services live in a rural zip code. Air ambulance services are an essential part of healthcare access in these communities.

The way it currently works when someone needs an air ambulance isn’t ideal either which is why I do believe the legislation is well-intentioned. But it doesn’t address the real problem: surprise billing. A medical professional has to be the person that calls in an air ambulance, it can’t be called in by a civilian. More often than not, the patient will receive a surprise medical bill for the service months later because their insurer denied the claim despite the fact that a medical professional decided that it was necessary. Instead of encouraging insurers to just cover the emergency services, this bill actually allows them to continue this practice of denying coverage and even makes it harder for air ambulances to work out in-network agreements with insurers. We need a solution to the surprise billing issue, the Lower Health Care Costs Act is not it.

Dan Limoges
Union County Sheriff

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4 thoughts on “Guest Column: Air Ambulance key resource for serving rural South Dakota”

  1. Solid points.

    Dan wrote: “I’ve been in law enforcement since 1985. I have served as a patrolman, sheriff and the President of the South Dakota Sheriffs Association.”

    Thank you for your service and for keeping South Dakota safe!

    Dan wrote: “the real problem: surprise billing… More often than not, the patient will receive a surprise medical bill for the service months later because their insurer denied the claim despite the fact that a medical professional decided it was necessary. This bill actually allows [insurers] to continue denying coverage and even makes it harder for air ambulances to work out in-network agreements with insurers.”

    100 percent correct. These unexpected bills can be gigantic. Surprise billing is a massive problem, one of many polluting our mongrel health care system. The simple fact: flights aren’t cheap. Pilots + medics perform a difficult, dangerous job. They deserve to be paid. When insurers refuse coverage, huge bills ($50,000 in some cases) arrive – bills poor people just ignore. Not because they don’t care, but because they can’t possibly pay. Of course, someone must pay. There’s no free lunch. Ultimately, losses get passed on to others, and to insurers, who’re asked to cover far more than one life-saving flight’s cost.

    Dan wrote: “We need a solution to the surprise billing issue.”

    He’s right. I can’t say it’ll be easily solved, or that any solution will be perfect, but we need to get serious & attack the core problem. We need creative ideas targeting deeper structural issues, not just the superficial numbers. I have thoughts, naturally, but I’ll shut up and let others speak.

  2. Americans all across the country are severely underserved when it comes to access to quality health care… Democrats want to give illegal aliens free health care.

    America First. Trump2020.

  3. Limoges is a good guy and this attempt by congress to set rates is bad policy that will screw up more than just air ambulance service. Get ready for more clinics closing. Didn’t we learn from Obamacare that government can’t lower costs with more regulation. Here’s an idea- tell the insurance companies and the hospitals to figure it out and stop putting the patient in the middle.

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