Some stories just won’t die. The one about $22,000 to $32,000 medevac helicopter flights since Carilion Clinic switched contractors in 2012 is one.
Every day I’m getting calls and emails and letters from readers. Some fear if they’re airlifted they’ll face huge debts they can’t pay, because the contractor, Med Trans Air Medical Transport, has no agreements with Virginia insurers and bills patients for the balance their insurance won’t cover.
Others are continuing to call and write with other questions, information and their personal experiences. So here’s some more about that still-broadening story, in a question-and-answer format.
Q: Can I refuse medical transport by helicopter?
A: There are two different answers to that one, and they don’t exactly jibe.
One come from Charles Drummond, a Vietnam vet who lives in Franklin County. It arose in April 2010, when Drummond, then 65, suffered what felt like severe indigestion while spreading mulch in his Glade Hill yard. He went to the emergency room of Carilion Franklin Memorial Hospital.
Drummond still isn’t clear whether he was in midst of having a heart attack or close to having one. He said he was there for three to four hours while doctors there did some tests. They told Drummond he had blockages in some cardiac arteries, he said.
Then, “they told me that they were going to airlift me to Roanoke. I told them, ‘No, I did not want to go by helicopter.’ ”
READ THE REST OF THIS COLUMN HERE.
Source: http://blogs.roanoke.com/dancasey
