SEATTLE -- Officials at Airlift Northwest and UW Medicine are urging people to consider their options if they ever need an emergency medical airlift. They say they're seeing more patients whose flights are not fully covered by their primary insurance. Many people are forced to pick up a massive bill.
“Check to see if your insurance even covers it and if it does, what percent it covers,” Airlift Northwest Executive Director Chris Martin said.
Airlift Northwest is a membership program that is part of UW Medicine. They provide a network of air medical transport across the Northwest and other parts of the country, depending on the emergency.
For $79 a year, in most cases, an aircare membership will cover your entire family if anyone were to need a medical airlift. The insurance would cover what it covers, and then the membership would take care of the rest of the bill. Airlift Northwest leaders say it is especially important for people on islands or who travel in the mountains to consider this option.
“Something happens up on Mount Rainier our helicopter can get you back to Harborview in minutes when you talk about potentially hours being grounded,” Martin added. “Think about you and your family and what you do, and if $79 is worth it. And we would tell you, most people will tell you, it’s a very cheap insurance.“
John Buchan lives in Port Ludlow. A little more than two years ago he was a patient on a medical airlift. He admits he didn’t read the manual on his brand new riding lawnmower when a wheel slipped over the edge of his lawn, and the 900-pound lawnmower fell directly on top of him on the beach as the tide moved in. Thankfully a 12-year-old girl was on the public dock next door and spotted in time so emergency crews could get him on an airlift to Harborview Medical Center.
“Without the helicopter, without Airlift Northwest, he probably wouldn’t be here today,” John’s wife Gloria Buchan said.
Buchan is one of the lucky ones not only because he survived the scare, but also because his insurance picked up the tab on his $28,000 flight to the hospital. He wants everyone to check their insurance just in case anything happens to you.
“You never know when it’s going to happen to you. Who would think your lawnmower would fall on top of you?” Buchan said. “If you’ve got $28,000 or $30,000, it’s going to be fine. But if you haven’t got insurance for it, for some people, it’s going to be a big bill.”
Last year only 3 percent of patients had aircare memberships and the rest were left to figure out how much of their flight would be covered by their primary insurance. Officials at UW Medicine are urging everyone to check with their insurance to see what, if any, they would cover.
