New Mexico Air Ambulance Surprise Billing Case Crashes

Air ambulance company PHI Air Medical LLC can’t proceed with its case alleging the federal Airline Deregulation Act preempts New Mexico’s surprise billing laws.

New Mexico’s balance or “surprise” billing laws prohibit a health insurer from paying only part of medical air transportation costs, leaving the balance for its plan members, the state insurance superintendent’s office said.

The decision came in response to PHI’s request for internal insurance office review of New Mexico Health Connections’s refusal to reimburse the full transportation costs for two plan members.

But the office didn’t say PHI couldn’t try to collect the balance from the ...