AirCare, a popular air ambulatory membership service on the island that can compensate for potentially large out-of-pocket expenses, recently announced it would end its longtime reciprocal agreements with LifeFlight and other air ambulance services.

It also announced that it will reduce the yearly price for families renewing or initiating membership.

The yearly fee of $79, which covers costs above and beyond typical insurance plans for emergencies requiring air transport, will be reduced to $60 per family for renewals and new memberships, the statement said.

The news came in a letter sent to current members and from a statement from AirCare, posted on the UW Medicine website, saying that starting March 25, its reciprocity arrangements with other air care services would end, meaning anyone who may be flown by LifeFlight will not have their service paid for by AirCare. Membership will pay for flights made by Airlift Northwest only.

“Our decision was not a business strategy,” the statement said. “We needed to make this change based on federal laws that drive national standards in the air ambulance industry.”

Reciprocity agreements had at one time provided more access to rural areas that needed care. But many air ambulance services now overlap, negating the need for these agreements. “Reciprocity arrangements largely no longer serve their original purpose,” the statement said.

This, as well as recent changes to airline industry deregulation and how Medicare is reimbursed, means that air ambulance services must end reciprocity agreements.

“Following best practices to comply with federal laws that generally prohibit marketing or offering inducements to patients to choose a particular medical service, Airlift Northwest has determined it no longer may ‘honor’ memberships of other air ambulance services,” the statement said.

In an interview with The Beachcomber, Susan Gregg, director of media relations for UW Medicine, said the decision to end the agreement with LifeFlight and other air ambulance providers was “a hard decision to make but we had to make it.”

With the end of the reciprocal agreement with LifeFlight, AirCare members in Washington state will be left with only one option — Airlift NW — that will cover costs for flights.

In an additional email, Gregg wrote that there are “several ideas under consideration and we are exploring best practices with others in the medical air transportation industry.”

Jeff Richey, interim executive director of Airlift NW said to The Beachcomber, “We are looking at other ways that … when Airlift NW is coming and you are a member, [you know] that you are also a part of UW medicine.”

These changes have left many islanders asking the question: What does that mean for me and my family?

Islanders, including Andy Johnson, have been voicing concerns and questions in online forums about these changes.

“Maybe LifeFlight considers Vashon to be in their service area, but to my knowledge, they have never responded to an emergency flight on the island,” Johnson wrote on the NextDoor app. “The fire department only asks for, and only gets, ALNW.”

Islander Cindy Hoyt was not sure if the end of the reciprocal agreement meant there would be one or two service providers or if insurance would pay for it.

Another islander, Sonny Winters, wanted to know the answers to those questions, too.

“I would hate to get stuck with an expensive helicopter bill,” Winters wrote. “In times of emergency who has the time to check which company is going to transport you?”

Toni Doane, an islander on the NextDoor app, contacted The Beachcomber regarding the conversations.

“It does seem to have people confused,” Doane wrote in an email. “As for me, I thought that if I – or a loved one with me – needed to be airlifted, we’d simply contact Airlift NW and a helicopter would land to scoot the person in trouble away. I never thought about the behind-the-scenes.”

Carin Bruce, the administrative assistant at VIFR, reported that there were 1,198 emergency medical service calls in 2019 on the island. Out of those, 40% were taken by aid car via ferry. According to Richey, there were only six calls for Airlift NW services in 2019 to Vashon. There are no recorded emergency airlifts from any service other than Airlift NW for many years, according to Valleycom, the 911 dispatch that serves Vashon-Maury Island.

“For myself [as an AirCare member] it’s good to know that Airlift is the main dispatch air transport and that is the main reason why I signed up for AirCare because of living on Vashon,” Bruce said.

UW spokespeople are encouraging members who are concerned about changes or have questions, to call the membership line at 1-888-835-1599 or email membership@airliftnw.org, or visit the website at airliftnw.org/aircare.