Global Medical Response (GMR) has announced a new multi-year agreement with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX). This agreement provides the more than six million BCBSTX members with in-network access to GMR’s life-saving emergency air medical transports. This in-network contract with GMR, the largest provider of emergent air medical services in Texas, covers all 254 Texas counties and includes services provided by AeroCare (operated by Med-Trans Corporation), Air Evac Lifeteam, Methodist AirCare (operated by Air Evac Lifeteam and REACH Air Medical), Houston County and Southeast Texas Air Rescue (operated by Air Evac Lifeteam), REACH Air Medical, and Air Med Response. In addition, AirMed International will be in-network and provide non-emergent services for BCBSTX members.
“More than three million Texans live in a rural area where access to a Level 1 or 2 trauma center can be more than an hour away by ground ambulance, and emergency air medical transports serve as a safety net where access to care is limited due to the closure of more and more of the state’s rural hospitals,” said Steve Dralle, president, South Region. “Global Medical Response companies provide over 12,000 annual air medical transports in Texas – all in support of our mission to provide care to the world at a moment’s notice.”
Dralle said the new agreement, combined with other in-network agreements and patients who have Medicare or Medicaid, means that 82 percent of GMR’s Texas emergent air transports are covered. BCBSTX members will their receive in-network benefits and will not receive a balance bill.
“When insurers like BCBSTX fairly engage in in-network conversations with our company and recognize the life-saving services we provide, we can come to equitable partnerships that take the patients out of the middle without the need for unnecessary government intervention,” Dralle said.
