Air Ambulance and Patient Billing Advisory Committee (AAPB Advisory Committee)

Overview

Air Ambulance and Patient Billing Advisory Committee (AAPB Advisory Committee) was established to review options to improve the disclosure of charges and fees for air medical services, better inform consumers of insurance options for such services, and protect consumers from balance billing. 

AAPB Advisory Committee documents are available on committee's docket, DOT-OST-2018-0206. 

Committee Status

• On March 18, 2022, the AAPB Advisory Committee submitted its Final Report to the Department.
• In the future, the Department will submit a report to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate on air ambulance oversight.

The Committee is no longer active.

Past Committee Meetings

• First Meeting: January 2020
• Second Meeting: May 2021
• Third Meeting: August 2021
• Recordings of past committee meetings 

Previous Members

• Dr. Michael Abernethy, Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, as representative of physicians.
• Elizabeth Battaglino, Chief Executive Officer, HealthyWomen, as representative of consumer advocacy groups.
• Susan Connors, President and Chief Executive Officer, Brain Injury Association of America, as representative of patient advocacy groups.
• Jon Godfread, Insurance Commissioner, State of North Dakota, as representative of state insurance regulators.
• John Haben, Vice President for National Contracting, UnitedHealth Networks, as representative of health insurance providers.
• Thomas Judge, Executive Director, LifeFlight of Maine, as representative of air ambulance operators.
• Anne Lennan, President, Society of Professional Benefit Administrators, as representative of managers of employee benefit plans.
• Kyle Madigan, Director, Dartmouth Hitchcock Advanced Response Team, as representative of nurses.
• Rogelyn McLean, Senior Policy Advisor, Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
• Asbel Montes, Vice President of Government Relations and Revenue Cycle, Acadian Ambulance, as representative of air ambulance operators.
• Christopher Myers, Executive Vice President of Reimbursement, Air Methods Corporation, as representative of air ambulance operators.
• Ray Pickup, President and CEO, WCF Mutual Insurance Company, as representative of the workers’ compensation insurance industry.
• Lisa Swafford, Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Operations, U.S. Department of Transportation, as DOT representative and Chair of the AAPB Advisory Committee.

Subcommittees

The AAPB Advisory Committee formed three subcommittees to address: disclosure and distinction of charges and coverage for air ambulance services; prevention of balance billing; and state and DOT consumer protection authorities. On January 11, 2021, all three Subcommittees filed their reports and recommendations on the docket. The reports are available here. 

The subcommittee are no longer active.