Bike Accident - Helicopter

[Deborajen]

Not a very good comparison IMHO.

You are trying to equate
(a) transport of a (presumably at least somewhat) stabilized patient from one hospital to another hospital, to
(b) emergency airlift of a potentially seriously injured patient from an accident site -- or as near to the accident site as the helicopter can land -- to a trauma center.

There's more at play here than simply mileage. At least in my case, mileage from the crash site to the trauma center (roughly 35 miles) was a very small part of the bill.

It wasn't intended to be a direct, or rather all-inclusive, comparison. Just curious about the mileage part. But good point and good information.

Oakleaf, also a good point about precertification. Whenever you call an insurance company, they have a recorded disclaimer "this information does not constitute a guarantee of payment." I've seen insurance companies precertify, pay, then come back as much as a year and half later and say - wait, the patient wasn't really eligible for insurance. One particular patient had been a full-time student, but he dropped a class and became part-time. This was a patient who had brain surgery.

No, there are no guarantees. Just suggesting.