Lawsuit: Air Evac EMS Charges ‘Unreasonable’ Rates for Emergency Air Transport

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

Air Evac EMS, Inc. is on the receiving end of a proposed class action lawsuit that claims the medical transport company charged an “unreasonable” amount for a patient’s emergency air transport to a West Virginia hospital. The plaintiff in the case alleges that after being seriously injured in an accident involving an all-terrain vehicle in April 2016, emergency responders deemed it necessary to transport him to the hospital by helicopter. The defendant allegedly billed the plaintiff $34,976.56 for the flight, which reportedly left him owing $20,244.00 after insurance payments.

The lawsuit argues that the defendant’s prices “bear no reasonable relationship to the services rendered or what is customarily charged for the services.” According to the complaint, the company’s price amounted to 571 percent of Medicare’s reimbursement rate for the same transport, and reportedly to 210 percent of a local competitor’s charges. The case claims the company’s “inflated and unconscionable pricing scheme” is simply an attempt to “capitalize on the duress of patients who have little to no ability to negotiate,” such as the plaintiff – who the suit points out was supposedly never given an opportunity to enter into a contract with the defendant before being rushed to the hospital.

The lawsuit, originally filed in state court, was removed to the District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.