'We were trusting them': Family battling newborn's $60K medical helicopter bill

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by: Nicole Fierro

Posted: Dec 29, 2023 / 07:33 PM EST

Updated: Dec 30, 2023 / 11:38 AM EST

BRIGGSDALE, Colo. (KDVR) — A Colorado family is looking for help after finding themselves in an expensive dilemma with a medical helicopter company. After taking hospital workers’ advice to put their newborn on a medical helicopter, they now are battling a $60,000 bill — and wondering why the flight was necessary in the first place.

On Nov. 29, 2021, Truitt came into this world, turning the Herricks into a family of six.

“He was born perfectly healthy, picture-perfect health,” said Truitt’s mom, Rashae. “And in a split second, our lives were just flipped.”

Herrick said the nurse picked up on a heart murmur.

“The pediatrician came in, told us ‘it’s the most common, uncommon thing’ in babies,” Rashae said. 

Herrick explained that doctors at the Greeley hospital where Truitt was delivered discovered deformities in his heart valve, meaning that Truitt had hypertension. They sent his results over to Children’s Hospital Colorado for review.

“They said, ‘I think he needs to come here,’ and, ‘We need to get this hypertension under control.’ So we we’re like, ‘OK, so we’re going to Children’s,’” Rashae said. “They told us by ambulance — he would be transported by ambulance.”

Then, plans changed. 

“The nurse comes in and tells us, ‘Nope, they’re going to send the helicopter,’” Herrick said. “I must have had just a panicked look on my face, because she went, ‘No, no, no, he’s not in emergency. It’s just a timing thing on Children’s Hospital, or inconvenience on their part.'”

Herrick said the baby got oxygen during the chopper ride, but she was shocked by the bill for almost $60,000.

“We were trusting them, and if they told us he needed to take a helicopter, even though they had just told us he didn’t, we were like, OK, get him to Children’s,” Herrick said. “I feel like they knew we were vulnerable and they jumped on it.”

The feeling got worse when insurance covered around $19,000. Herrick said the chopper company told her they would appeal it to insurance, but before that process even went through, she was sent to collections. 

“They turned it over to collections before they appealed it, and then they pulled it out of collections to appeal it, and then the insurance company said no,” she said. “It went back to collections and we honestly had no communication this whole time. And then we had no communication from the collection agency until the lady called and said, ‘How would you like to pay your $45,000 debt?’”

Herrick said she was not informed about compound interest, making that $40,000 helicopter bill after insurance even higher.

“We do have some of these aggressive companies coming in and really kind of taking advantage of leverage to drive up prices to astronomical levels, and unsurprisingly, patients often get left in the middle,” said Loren Adler, associate director for the USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy. “One of the most frustrating things here is really just one month later, the No Surprises Act, which was a federal surprise billing ban, would have applied to this.”

Adler explains that the No Surprises Act, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2022, prevents air ambulances from billing the patient any more than insurance is paying. Unfortunately, it is not retroactive, leaving the Herricks out of the protection and having to figure out this bill on their own.

“We are a family of six, my husband works two jobs and I’m part-time employed, and we don’t have $45,000,” Herrick said. “So it’s like, how are we going to pay this?”

Children’s Hospital said in a statement:

Due to HIPAA, we’re unable to comment on a specific child’s case. However, the decision to use ground or helicopter transportation is determined by distance and the patient’s condition. Children’s Hospital Colorado does not bill for any transportation. All billing is done by Global Medical Response. We’d recommend you reach to them with any billing questions.

Nexstar’s KDVR reached out to Global Medical Response/REACH Air Medical Services about the bill. They provided the following statement, in part:

REACH Air Medical Services delivers timely healthcare to patients in need. Our teams respond at a moment’s notice, without regard for a patient’s ability to pay. When an emergency transport is requested, REACH does not make the decision about whether a patient transport is medically necessary. Sixty percent of our flights are physician-ordered transfers, and 40 percent are public EMS or first responders agencies activating us based on criteria they determine as the lead clinician on scene.

Unfortunately, this transport took place before the No Surprises Act effective date so the federal dispute resolution process does not apply here. However, REACH recognizes the complexity of what happens after an emergency illness or injury and has a dedicated team of Patient Advocates to assist our patients through the transport billing process…

Global Medical Response/REACH Air Medical Services added that appeal processes can take months or even years and that company patient advocates work to help patients and insurance companies find resolutions.

Family members made a GoFundMe to help the Herricks try to pay this high bill.

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