Your daily Letter to the Columnist — August 5, 2013
As a licensed helicopter pilot for many years, I read your columns re medical transport flight billing with great interest, however I wonder if you have overlooked another interesting fact:
In Virginia, there are many areas where the state police helicopter
operations AND private ops like Air Methods overlap, thus in the event
of an accident, the amount a person gets billed is totally dependent on
which helicopter arrives at the scene.
Here’s an example: a few years ago there was a large highway accident
involving multiple autos and the need for several crash victims to be
flown to emergency centers. The victims that were flown using the
private carrier, Air Methods, saw huge bills for their transport, yet
the victims who flew in the state police helicopter were charged
virtually nothing.
This is not an isolated incident, either. If you live in an area that
has an overlap in state police helicopter service AND private carriers,
it is merely a roll of the dice as to which service you are transported
in and thus how much your final costs are.
And trust me, there is pressure applied to the state police to allow
the private carriers to handle accident victim flights. Just check into
why the state police decided to close their helicopter services at
Lynchburg airport AFTER Centra Health signed an agreement to provide
private helicopter services to central Virginia, thus locating a private
carrier at Lynchburg airport.
These overlaps are very unfair to the general public. This is a
well-known fact among the state police and private carriers and it is
very unfair to the general public.
Check it out. If possible, please keep me anonymous. I know many pilots with the state police and the private carriers.
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