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Ground Ambulance Billing And Prices Differ By Ownership Structure.
- Source :
-
Health Affairs . Feb2023, Vol. 42 Issue 2, p227-236. 10p. - Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- The No Surprises Act prohibits most surprise billing but notably does not apply to ground ambulance services. In this study we created a novel data set that identifies the ownership structure of ground ambulance organizations to compare pricing and billing between private- and public-sector ambulances, with a specific focus on organizations owned by private equity or publicly traded companies. Overall, we found that 28 percent of commercially insured emergency ground ambulance transports during the period 2014-17 resulted in a potential surprise bill. Our analysis illustrates that being transported by a private-sector ambulance in an emergency comes with substantially higher allowed amounts, patient cost sharing, and potential surprise bills compared with being transported by a public-sector ambulance. Further, allowed amounts and cost sharing tended to be higher for private equity- or publicly traded company-owned ambulances than other private-sector ambulances. These findings highlight substantial patient liability and important differences in pricing and billing patterns between public- and private-sector ground ambulance organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 02782715
- Volume :
- 42
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Health Affairs
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 161832709
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00738