Judge Tosses Aetna’s Case Claiming Medivacs Abuse Surprise Billing

A group of air ambulance companies did not abuse arbitration under the No Surprises Act by unbundling individual claims for a single episode of care, a federal judge in Connecticut ruled Tuesday.

Aetna alleged the air ambulances—Guardian Flight LLC, Reach Air Medical Services LLC, CALSTAR Air Medical Services LLC, Med-Trans Corporation, Air Evac EMS, Inc., and AirMed International LLC—were fraudulently submitting excess claims in order to win more arbitration awards.

The US District Court for the District of Connecticut found the practice was permitted by the surprise billing law, which requires insurers and providers to settle most unexpected out-of-network charges ...