April 2018
Use flight information form for non-emergency air ambulance authorization requests
As a reminder, effective for dates of service on or after April 2, 2018, all non-emergency air ambulance transports for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan PPO commercial and Blue Care Network HMOSM commercial members require authorization.
Requests to authorize non-emergency flights must be submitted to and approved by Alacura Medical Transportation Management LLC before the flight. This requirement applies to both in-state and out-of-state air ambulance transports.
Emergency flights — when the patient can’t safely wait six hours for the flight to take off — don’t require authorization. This includes situations that involve delays due to weather or stabilizing the patient. When it’s an emergency, just transport the patient.
How to request an authorization for non-emergency flights
To contact Alacura about authorizing a non-emergency flight request, do the following:
Reason for authorization requirement
Air ambulance transports that aren’t medically necessary or that are flown by noncontracted providers expose Blue Cross and BCN members to significantly greater out-of-pocket costs and are much costlier for the plan. The requirement for authorization prior to non-emergency flights is expected to lower costs for Blue Cross and BCN members and customers.
Additional information
Additional details about this change are available in the original articles published on this topic:
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