With a loss of medevac insurance through Apollo Medi Trans, non-profit Airlift Northwest might provide an alternative for some residents.
For a $99 annual fee, Airlift Northwest serves patients who have insurance, including Medicare. Bills go directly to the insurers, said Cindy McFeely, the firm’s director of finance. Insured customers should incur no out-of-pocket costs, she said.
A medevac flight between Haines and Juneau costs between $17,000 and $20,000, she said.
For Medicare and Medicaid patients, the government pays about $6,000. The patient, other than the annual $99, doesn’t pay, McFeely said.
McFeely also said the Airlift Northwest program isn’t open to Medicaid patients but will medevac Medicaid patients and accept what the state will pay them for the service.
“We do everything we can to make the financial part as easy as possible,” McFeely said.
Airlift Northwest is a non-profit, with revenues restricted to what they’re paid for the flights by the insurance companies and annual membership fees.
Volume is important, said McFeely. The more medevac flights they have, the more services they are able to provide, she said.
Airlift Northwest had 33,000 flights between Montana, Washington, Idaho and Alaska last year.
Apollo is still working to get its licensed renewed, said Marty Hester, deputy director of the Alaska Division of Insurance, but there’s no word on when it might be back in service.