A 1 year membership is $65 for your entire household, and $10 of that will go to BCP. That's just 12 gallons of
Fuel guys.

After posting the "Medical Transport Membership" thread and seeing the overwhelming support for Air Ambulance Memberships, I spoke with Zane about putting together a fundraiser for BCP by offering REACH for Life/ AirMedCare Network memberships to all BCP members. Safety is an important consideration for all of us, don't you agree that we should place as much consideration on being prepared for the unexpected events in our lives. Wouldn't it be nice to know that if you ever need the membership, that it is there. When you purchase your membership $10 will go to BackCountryPilot.org. Just follow this link http://www.joinreachair.com/lp/101/default.htm, and please view the service area map bellow to determine if your area is covered by the membership. In order for us to track BCP members signing up please enter the following GET CODE 9378 and TRACK CODE 13249. Also if you can send me a PM with your name so I can make sure all sign ups are credited to the BCP website. Thank you for supporting your local Air Ambulance and BackCountryPilot.org.

Thanks Brian, I signed up through my parents household to get them coverage.

Great, Thank you Tyler

Just signed up. We have a participating company at my home airport. Air Evac Life Team

Thanks!

Don't forget to PM me your full name so I get it off the membership reports and get the donation to BCP.


Thanks guys.

I followed the other thread pretty close and checked out the links provided and I have a question regarding the service provided here in Central Oregon. Recently Lifelight opened a base in Redmond and provided some competition for Airlink (formerly Airlife) in Bend. They have Both made it very clear that they are not partners and there is not a common membership between them. They have been asked (or pressured) by the county fire chiefs to find a solution so the customers in Cental Oregon do not have to have two memberships to be covered, but as it stands now, we need two.

I'm in favor of supporting the air medical and firemed membership programs but I want to get the biggest bang for my buck just like the next guy and I'd hate to be lying injured in need of a helo and have to say "nooo, order the other helocopter! I'm not covered by this one!" So do you see any solution to this conflict in the near future?

Thanks for your passion and hard work putting this together. It's incredibly valuable and nice to see it benefit BCP!

CW

As a paramedic and a longtime SAR vollunteer, here's some things to think about

Keep in mind that helicopters should only be called as medical necessity. In 50 years of aeromedical rescue services in the U.S. they have killed as many people who would have lived as they have saved those who would have died. Statistically it is a wash. If however there is an injury that needs to be treated in a time critical manner, and the helicopter offers the savings and all goes right with weather and mechanical stuff helicopters can be great. When I am on scene I call a helicopter only when I am sure it is the right move for my patient. I have had 3 good friends who were medics killed in helicopter crashes transporting non-critical patients.


Also, realize that when a rescuer calls for a helicopter they cannot stipulate a particular service, there is a good chance that the ship that responds might not be a member of the network. Each network would have its own rules concerning a private party dispatch. I have never heard of somebody doing that (i.e. dispatching an aeromedical helo by say a sat phone) but each service does have a number, that is mostly used by hospitals looking for inter-facility transfers. It would be worth looking into if one was to buy a subscription. If an individual calls 911 and requests a helicopter the request will first go to the sherrif's office or the local EMS or fire dept. They will make the decision on what gets sent, and again it will be the closest apropriate ship that goes, not the one that is a member of the network. The point is moot if all of the helicopters in a region are members, this is not true in Colorado, as far as I can tell.

And finally, there are two different missions that come into play with downed aircraft. Search & Rescue. In Colorado, in order to have the search paid for you have to purchase a CORSAR card or have a hunting or fishing license in your name. The CORSAR card is $3 for one year or $12 for 5 years and is well worth it. Some states supply search services without charge others rely on some sort of buy in, check out your states deal.

Its a big step as a pilot to just talk about all these things. I am convinced the more you run through what ifs in your head the more you'll be prepared when something happens

Brad

Clippwagon,
If you spend most of your time in one providers service area than their membership would be a good idea, but like Durango pointed out, the resource in your area maybe committed to another call in which case the next closest available resource will be used. In Oregon we recommend having FireMed, REACH for Life and a LifeFlight membership especially for pilots that travel throughout the state. In my opinion the cost of the three memberships together is a great value. REACH for Life is part of the largest membership program in the US, however each area is different and more than one membership may be necessary to make sure you are covered. You are not just getting a break on your co-pay, you are supporting the Healthcare needs of your community and allow for more rural communities to get the healthcare they need.

As far as one program honoring the other, if it was up to the programs they would, but there are legal issues.
Federal law prohibits the routine waiver of co-pays for services covered by Medicare or Medicaid. However, through an ambulance membership program, membership fees are collected in lieu of the collection of co-pays ("co-pays" is used to refer to all types of patient cost-sharing amounts, including co-payments and deductibles). OIG guidance provides that where membership fees collected from members (or members who are Medicare beneficiaries) "reasonably approximate" the amounts that these individuals would expect to spend for cost-sharing amounts over the period covered by the membership agreement, there is, essentially, no impermissible waiver of co-pays. Therefore, where a specific air ambulance supplier (such as REACH) operates a membership program and does not bill its members for co-pays associated with its air transport services, this would not be considered to be a prohibited waiver of the co-pays (i.e., the billing and collection of the membership fee would negate any obligation of the specific air ambulance supplier to bill the patient for the co-pay). This analysis does not hold true, however, if a separate, unaffiliated supplier of air transport services (such as an unaffiliated competitor to REACH) waives a co-pay for services provided to a REACH for Life member. In this case, the competitor has not collected any membership fees from the REACH for Life member, because these fees have only been collected by REACH. As a result, the competitor has not collected any funds from the patient that would justify refraining from billing the REACH for Life member for the co-pay. In summary, if a competitor provides services to a REACH for Life member, the competitor is obligated to collect a co-pay from that individual (unless, of course, the REACH for Life member is also a member of a qualifying membership program operated by the competitor).

Please feel free to PM me with questions about your particular area.

So I thought I would share a story with you all to put the cost of a helicopter flight in your minds. I was approached by a guy from two towns over that said he had been pushing our membership program for us for free for the past two years. He believed it was a necessity for everyone in his community and he expressed this belief by showing me the bill he received after being flown by us. He of course did not have a membership at the time. $25,000 was the cost of the flight, his insurance covered $22,000, but as a retired police officer $3000 out of pocket was a struggle. He said $65 a year is a bargain for what it could save you, unless you live in a city you should have a membership period. I have flown almost a thousand patients over the past 9 years and have had very few chances to talk with one of them. He was greatfull and so thankful of the service that is available to his community. He was not at all upset at what it cost him, he made it seem like he new that he could have prevented that cost by joining the membership.

I have to follow that story with another. I was on a backcountry motorcycle trip last year and crashed on a forest service road west of La Pine. My injuries were not life threatening, but I shattered my left leg badly. After about 1 1/2 hours we were able to get the first responders to us. They offered the option to have the AirLink helicopter come in, at the time my membership did not include AirLink. Knowing the cost of the flight I declined the option and instead enjoyed a very uncomfortable and painful hour long bumpy ride in the back of the ambulance out of the backcountry, only to be slapped with a $1300 bill from them. Since AirLink is now part of the REACH For Life membership, it would have been faster, more comfortable and way less expensive to take the helicopter ride. Just sayin.

Durango Skywagon wrote:As a paramedic and a longtime SAR vollunteer, here's some things to think about

Keep in mind that helicopters should only be called as medical necessity. In 50 years of aeromedical rescue services in the U.S. they have killed as many people who would have lived as they have saved those who would have died. Statistically it is a wash.

Brad

That is shocking info right there. You sure?