IDR filing for air ambulance providers

Always federal

The No Surprises Act covers out-of-network air ambulance transport, and patients can only be charged in-network cost sharing. State surprise-billing laws generally cannot reach air carriers, so air ambulance payment disputes run through the federal IDR process regardless of the state or the plan type. No bifurcation analysis, no opt-in check.

What's different about air ambulance disputes

• They are tracked as their own dispute category in federal reporting, separate from emergency and non-emergency services.
• The qualifying payment amount is built around air ambulance service and mileage components rather than a physician fee schedule analogue.
• Per-transport dollar amounts are large, so a single determination carries far more weight than a batch of professional claims — and the arbitrator's fee is a smaller share of the amount at stake.
• Ground ambulance is not covered by the federal law. Those claims depend entirely on state law, and in most states there's no dispute mechanism at all.

What we do

• Screen every out-of-network transport for coverage and eligibility
• Serve open negotiation notices and initiate within the four-business-day window
• Build offers on transport-level clinical justification, crew configuration, distance, and comparable determinations by payer
• Follow awards to payment — awards are due within 30 calendar days, and unpaid awards need escalation