Sky-high surprise bills from air ambulance flights possible for many patients

When an emergency dispatcher calls for a helicopter to fly a critically ill patient to a hospital, they don't have time to check whether they take the patient's insurance. But after those patients land, 72% of them could face a potential 'surprise bill' because their ambulance provider isn't 'in network' with their insurance, a new study of people with private insurance finds. So could 79% of those transported via ground ambulance.