New MASA Special Report Shows Emergency Transportation Costs Have Skyrocketed

Data show costs have risen by 32 percent over the past four years, driven by some of the most common ailments facing Americans

SUNRISE, Fla., Dec. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MASA^®, the leading Emergency Transportation coverage provider across the U.S. and 14 international markets, released a new special report showing that the cost for emergency medical transport has increased by more than a third over the past four years, despite stable utilization rates.

This new paper, titled "Emergency medical transportation: The true costs – and how they're rising," also shows that emergency medical transportation is used for some of the most common medical conditions, and the highest costs hit regions of the country like rural communities that already face significant barriers to health care.

"Emergency medical transportation is costly, common, and a contributing factor to some of our health care system's deep inequities," said MASA CEO, David Harris. "Our latest special report proves each of these points thoroughly. But even the challenging process of aggregating and thoroughly analyzing this data itself proved that individual patients and families might not know how costly an emergency medical transport could be until they receive a bill."

Nationwide, the average billed amount for emergency medical transportation is $2,952 per service. Yet patients in non-metropolitan-statistical areas (non-MSAs or typically rural communities) face much higher billed amounts. For example, the national average billed amount for emergency medical transport in 2022 was $2,952. The average was $13,252 in non-MSAs in Arizona and $13,057 in non-MSAs in Nevada. These areas also tend to experience a greater lack of access to care and fewer trauma units or emergency rooms than other regions, contributing to significant barriers to equitable care.

While the costs for emergency medical transport vary widely, the causes are common. The highest frequency of emergency medical transportation in 2022 was linked to older adults and also linked to the R00-R99 ICD category ("symptoms, signs, and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified"), which includes common symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath, and circulatory diseases. This is a relatively common diagnostic code, used in situations where there was not time to get a more detailed or specific diagnosis.

This special report by MASA is based on an extensive analysis of 400,000 claims for emergency medical transport in 2022, the most recent year data is available. It is the first in a series of papers intended to define and analyze key data to help consumers, employers, and policymakers make better informed decisions around medical transportation costs.

About MASA
Founded in 1974 as Medical Air Services Association, Inc., MASA^® is the leading Emergency Transportation benefit built to enhance healthcare plans by covering the out-of-pocket costs associated with emergency medical transport. Today, as a global organization with 14 international locations and services in all 50 states and Canada, MASA serves more than 2 million members with emergency and non-emergency transportation benefits and so much more. Our basic coverage area includes the continental U.S., Hawaii, Alaska, Mexico, and Canada, with worldwide coverage offered for certain plans. For more information, visit www.masaaccess.com.

SOURCE MASA Global